Gimme shelter
by Crazy-for-CSI
Summary: Where did Sirius go after he escaped on Buckbeak? Harry thought of a tropical destination but well...he was wrong. Starts in the summer of PoA but there's a twist - an OC. What exactly are her relations to the Marauders?
1. Friends

Welcome to my new story. My first Harry Potter story. Truthfully, I wrote this one several years ago and I've just found it now. It was written as my reaction to the happenings of Ootp, because I'm still in denial of everything happening in there;) This story starts in summer of Harry's third year and goes on from then. The pairing is Sirius/OC, there will be other ships eventually, mostly canon though.

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to J.; only my OC is mine;)

It was a bright summer morning. The sun was just starting to shine on the tops of trees and the roofs of near houses were glistening with dewdrops. As it was an end of summer, the air in the morning was fresh. The quietness of the still sleeping village was only disturbed by a soft 'pop', significant for Apparation. Suddenly, there was a person standing on the meadow just behind the village. It was the strangest person imaginable. For one, the woman had long hair of rather undefinable colour. Most of the time it seemed to be black but if you looked closer you could see it was very dark purple, however, in the sunshine her hair got a very dark reddish colour. However all the three colours perfectly matched her deep blue-green eyes. But her hair wasn't the most strenge thing about her; it was the fact that she was dressed in robes.

For a while she was just standing, looking around with a strange pensive look. It had been quite a long time since Natalie was here. Then, as if with a new determination, she headed to a nearby house, situated on the very end of the village, somewhat separated from the rest of the neighborhood.

Briskly, she crossed the lawn, not caring about the hem of her robe getting wet by morning dew and several times she knocked on the door, rather harshly, although unintentionally. But after a few minutes, when nothing happened, she sighed and banged on the door again. This time, she could hear a commotion inside and she cringed a bit.

Finally, the door slowly opened, revealing a sleepy-looking man in a shabby robe. Although still young, the face of Remus Lupin was ghastly pale, only pointing out the dark bags under his eyes. His hair was now tousled and was decorated by even more greyish hair than Natalie remembered him having. Any other time Natalie wouldn't have dreamt about waking Remus at six in the morning after full moon but the matter she came with was rather urgent.

"Natalie?" Remus said when he recognized the witch before him "What are you doing here?" he asked then a little apprehensively, but still with always so significant kindness.

"Have you heard yet?" she barked sharply instead of a greeting. At that, Lupin raised his eyebrows. Sure, he hadn't seen her in a long time but this…anxiety; it wasn't like her at all.

"Heard what?"

Instead of an answer, Natalie pulled out something from the pocket of her robes, which appeared to be a newspaper. She opened it and held it in front of Remus' face. When he managed to focuse on the page, his eyes went wide. A photo of Sirius Black was lazily blinking at him from the front page of the Prophet, and a big headline above was announcing his escape from Azkaban.

"Oh Merlin" Remus whispered and took the newspaper from Natalie's hand to read the article. In the meantime, Natalie stepped inside of Remus' house and closed the door behind them, immediately allowing the dimness spill around the place, but it surely didn't seem to bother Remus, who was still engrossed in the article. When Natalie looked around, she looked around the place her friend called home. The window-shutters were closed so the room was lit just by a dim glow of a few candles and a dying fire from the fireplace. As shabby as the place was, it wasn't particularly dirty and frankly, Natalie wasn't surprised by this fact. Remus had never been a slob, right the opposite, actually.

'Some things don't change.' she thought with a smile. Remus's house was indeed shabby, the furniture was old and scarce but the whole cottage was actually homey.

"I can't believe it" Remus said, indicating he had finished the article and Natalie turned her attention to him again.

"What are we going to do?" she asked him

"Natalie, we can't do anything" he said quietly and when she looked at the floor he raised his eyebrow "What, you weren't thinking of looking for him, where you?" he assured himself. Surely, she wasn't that stupid but he asked anyway.

"What? No, of course not." Natalie said quickly but stil a bit sadly "I just…do you think he will show up?" she asked and Lupin seemed to think about it for a while.

"I don't know. But frankly, I would be surprised if he did. Sirius isn't a fool, he knows it would be too dangerous"

"It wouldn't be at my place" Natalie murmured but then she looked up again "You still believe he did it, don't you?"

"Yes" Remus answered and then sighed. "Natalie, Peter's dead. There were many witnesses; all of them having seen Sirius murder him. What else do you need to believe he comitted the murders?"

"Nothing because I _know_ he didn't" Natalie said defiantly. Remus was already beginning to answer when Natalie raised her hand to stop him "No, Remus. This is the reason we haven't talked to each other for _five years_. Don't you think we've argued argued way too much already?" she said, her eyes begging him to agree and he did. She was right, they always used to be friends but after James and Lily were killed and Sirius taken to Azkaban, they just weren't the same. Everytime one of them remembered either James and Lily or Sirius, they fought over Sirius' guilt and Remus shuddered at the memory of their very last fight which had led to a loss of contact for the next five years.

"You're right. And I'm sorry, you have a right to believe whatever you want. I'm sorry about the things I said" he said then with a sorrowful smile.

"I'm sorry, too. I shoudn't have said that you're-" Natalie said but Remus stopped her with a raised hand before she could finish her sentence.

"Apology accepted but you don't have to repeat it" he said and Natalie smiled. Then, without any warning she hugged him tightly. Both Remus and Natalie were happy to have back at least one friend.

_Flashback_

Until the third year of Hogwarts, Natalie Crane was just a plain girl with frizzy hair and glasses. She wasn't the most favourite person in her class, nor the most hated one. She was a Griffindor and a friend with Lily Evans but it wasn't as if they were best friends, they just shared the same dormitory and got along well. However, her social status wasn't concerning Natalie at all. She was happy just as she was, giving all her effort into studies, although her grandparents were always telling her to relax for a bit as well. From the age of two, Natalie had been living with her grandparents because both her parents had tragically died during an accident. Both her parents and grandparents were muggles and as a Muggle-born Natalie always felt she had to study harder to be equal to the 'pure bloods'. Although she personally didn´t give a damn about who´s a pure blood and who´s not, she knew very well that some kids from magical families were looking down at Muggle-borns.

Natalie and Lily were in the same year as the infamous Marauders. But as unbelievable as it was in the same class, the four pranksters didn't even know she existed and Natalie didn't have any intention to let them know as this fact had been sparing her many pranks from the boys. But in the third year, this was about to change very quickly…

It was just after a morning Potions lesson and so far, Natalie was having a bad day. It had started with a broken alarm clock and now in the Entrance hall she remembered she had forgotten her Potions book in the classroom. With a frustrated sigh, she ran to the dungeons again, determined to get her book as quickly as she could so she would be able to get to the Great Hall just in time for lunch. As she was dashing down the corridor to the Potions classroom, three blurred shapes passed her in opossite direction. However, there was fourth person running against her and this time, she wasn't so lucky - both she and that mysterious person literally ran into each other. With a loud thump she fell on the hard floor of the dungeon, bumped her elbow and all her books scattered around her. She shook her head to get rid of the dizzyness and finally looked whom had she collided with.

"Oh Merlin, are you alright?" said a boy with light braun hair and blue tired-looking eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I am" she said a little shakily but then she heard another voice

"Remus, come on!" another boy shouted and when Natalie looked around she saw a boy with jet-black hair sticking in all directions, who she knew as James Potter. The two remaining boys were standing behind him but all of them were almost at the end of the hallway. Remus seemed to recover from the shock and hastily began to gather her scattered books.

"You're Natalie Crane, aren't you?" he said quickly, but not really looking at her as he was frantically scooping up her books into his arms. He didn't even wait for her answer "Listen, you really don't want to be in this hallway right now. Come on, quickly!" he said, helped her get up and with her books still in his hands he hastily led her out of the dungeons.

"What? Wait, I need to go there!" Natalie protested as he dragged her

"No, trust me, you don't. Not now"

"Why not?" she asked

"We put a firecracker into Filch's office and we just happen to know he has a confiscated stash of Dungbombs in there." Remus explained and Natalie couldn't help but chuckle when she imagined the look on Filch's face when he would find his office full of Dungbombs and flying firecracker. Remus just gave her a surprised side-glance but didn't say anything. Just when they were out of the dungeons, they stopped running, almost colliding with other three Marauders, who were curiously eying Natalie and Remus.

"Here are your books. Once again, sorry for bumping into you." he said and James and Sirius sniggered. Remus gave them a quick glare but Natalie didn't seem to hear them.

"That's alright. Thanks for the warning. I guess I'll see you later." she said and headed to the Great Hall, only catching as James and Sirius grilled Remus with questions.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing, I just couldn't let her there"

"Why not? Would be even more fun" Sirius said. Natalie didn't hear more as she entered the Great Hall. She just shook her head – typical Marauders…

Next week passed without another encounter with the Marauders, that is… until Friday. She just came for the dinner and without thinking, she took the only free spot, which just so happened to be next to Remus. James was sitting on the other side of him; Sirius and Peter were sitting opposite of them. For a while, neither of them noticed her, as always, but then James spotted her.

"Hey, Remus, isn't that your new friend?" he asked teasingly, not even bothering to keep his voice down, and nodded his head to Natalie. She looked up only to see all four boys looking at her.

"Hi" she smiled a little shyly.

"Hi, Natalie. You're doing all right?" Remus said and she nodded.

"You a Griffindor? How come I don't know you?" Sirius suddenly said.

"I don't know" Natalie shrugged.

"Are you new?" James asked.

"No, I'm not new. I'm here since I was eleven"

"Well," Sirius shrugged "I don't know many of sedond years, that should be the reason" Sirius concluded

"Uhm, actually I'm in third year, we're in the same class" Natalie told them and all three boys looked at her in astonishment before they turned to Remus, who didn't look surprised a bit.

"You knew that? You knew she was in our class?" James asked him and Remus shrugged.

"Why, yes, of course I did. She's always sitting in the front seat" he said and James and Sirius gave each other a look and shrugged simultaneously.

"What was your name again?" Sirius asked then.

"Natalie Crane" she introduced and reached her hand across the table for him to shake it. Sirius looked her and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly at her formal introduction, or maybe it was over the fact that while she was looking at him, James was putting crickets into her plate and she didn´t even notice. After a few seconds of contemplation, Sirius shook her hand.

When Natalie let go of his hand again, she took a full spoon of her meal. "Merlin, what is that?" she frowned when she tasted something definitely weird. But in that while all Marauders burst out laughing. Natalie's eyes went wide when she saw what exactely was on her plate. But then, to the great amazement of the four pranksters, she began to chuckle herself.

"Which of you did it, you?" she turned to James "When did you do it? I didn't even notice you got up" she wondered.

"Well, maybe you were too engrossed in eyeing Sirius." James said with a sly grin.

"Hey!" both Natalie and Sirius said.

"All right, guys, I think I'm better off." Natalie said then, whith a slight smile "I'll see you later." she said and slowly walked off.

"That was hillarious." James said and took a bite of his meal just to spit it out again, Sirius doing the same. The crickets were now decorating their plates. They both looked to the door of the Great hall just to see Natalie grinning and waving innocently at them.

"What the-" Sirius muttered.

"Hey! How did you do it?" James called after her and she smiled again.

"I'm good at charms." she shrugged and left.

Since that evening, Natalie was spending more and more time with the Marauders and after some time, they all became best friends. People even said that she was the only 'soft spot' of the great James Potter and Sirius Black - much to dismay of girls who were always trying to get their attention.

To the Marauders, Natalie was something like their secret weapon. She was a perfect student, all teachers loved her and still she could be a wicked prankster herself and with wicked ideas, too. Usually, it wasn't her who actually realized the pranks, but she was always up to thinking up new ideas and willingly doing their homeworks while the boys were in detention. But often she earned a detention along with them, sometimes even well deserved.

_End of Flashback_

When Natalie pulled away from Remus, she looked at him closely and she frowned when she took in his appearence.

"You look horrible." she said and he chuckled slightly.

"Yes, I must say you aren't visiting in the…right time."

"I'm sorry, Remus, I know this is the worst time I could show up here but I had to talk to you. But you know what? I think you should lay down." Natalie suggested and without waiting for his answer, she led her sick-looking friend to a sofa. He really didn't look well. His face was getting paler and paler, if it was even possible, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He looked as if he had a fever. The lack of his protests told Natalie that he was indeed feeling as bad as he looked.

"Here, lay down and I'll make you something to eat" she said kindly and spread a blanket over him.

"No, you really don't have to take care of me, Natalie. I'll be fine."

"Don't be silly." she cut him off, made her way to his small kitchen, and began looking for something to eat.

"Indeed." she muttered when she found out that Remus really didn't have _anything_ to eat at all. She sighed and pulled out her wand. She hated cooking with a help of magic, she always liked the "hand-made" meal better. But right now, it would have to do. After several flicks of her wand, she was looking with satisfaction at a full pot of a steaming chicken soup. She poured some into a bowl and took it to the living room. Although Remus was looking exhausted, he still wasn't asleep.

"Here." she said and gave him the bowl of steaming soup.

"Thank you." he smiled gratefully and took it. While he was eating, Natalie made a fire in the fireplace and in a while the oddly cold room was slowly warming up.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Lupin asked after he swallowed another mouthful.

"Nothing really." Natalie said and sat down on the armchair opposite of the sofa. "After…uhm, after we lost contact I traveled a bit and now, don't laugh, now I'm working as a vet" she said and Remus raised one eyebrow in a puzzled expression. Of course, Natalie was a Muggle-born, still tended to forget that sometimes Remus had no idea what she was talking about, especially after so many years of separation.

"What's a vet?" he asked

"Oh, I'm sorry. You know, I take care of pets and animals. When someone has a sick Crup or something, they just bring it to me and I'll cure it. You wouldn't believe just how much people are willing to pay to get their kid's Puffskein healed. And I also have a lot of my own animals" she said and blushed a little but Remus didn't laugh at all.

"Well, I guess it's not as surprising, you always were excelent at the Care of Magical Creatures although, maybe it is a shame you don't want to return to being an Auror." he said and Natalie sighed.

"Listen, they wanted me to come back. Asked me several times, actually. But I just can't and you know why. And to be honest, now I'm glad I didn't take their offer" she said and frowned slightly at that thought. She was glad she didn't have to be the one chasing after Sirius. She doubted she would be able to do it. Remus just nodded thoughtfully.

"And what about you?" Natalie asked with concern. It wasn't a secret that for Remus it was almost impossible to keep a job for a long time due to his 'illness'. When she realized she actually had abandoned him for five years, that for the five years he hadn't had anyone to help him, the ever-present guilt in the pit of her stomach grew even more.

"I always manage. I always find a job, even if for a short time, but it keeps me alive."

"What about now?" she asked, her concern still not lessening. But to her surprise, Remus gave her a slight smile.

"You'll be surprised. Several days ago Dumbledore personally visited me and offered me the post of the teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts." he said and Natalie gasped.

"Really?" she said in amazement but then she squealed "Oh, it's wonderful." she exclaimed and threw herself around Remus' neck once again. Only luck that Remus had put the now empty bowl on the small table next to the sofa, otherwise it would have been shattered.

"So, you're going back to Hogwarts." she sighed contentedly when she let him go and settled in the armchair again.

"Seems like it." Remus smiled again "You definitely have to come to visit me." he said then and Natalie smiled back.

"I definitely will. So…you'll go to the Shrieking Shack again?" she asked.

"No, I won't. Have you heard about Wolfsbane?" he asked and Natalie nodded.

"Yeah, I have. But it's quite new and not many people know how to prepare it. Can you do it?" she wondered.

"No, I can't. But Dumbledore talked Snape into brewing it for me." he said and Natalie's head shot up.

"Snape? Snape?" Natalie exclaimed and jumped up from her seat "You're going to drink something Snape made? Snape of all people? What is he even doing in Hogwarts anyways?"

"He's teaching there. He's a Potions master." Remus answered but didn't have time to tell anything else because Natalie cut him off again.

"Yeah? So what? That doesn't make him saint and he hates you. Please, don't drink it. I'll learn to do it myself and every month I'll bring it for you to Hogwarts, just don't take anything Snape made, please." Natalie begged him with a petrified voice and would ramble on and on if Remus hadn't stopped her.

"Nat? Nat, calm down, it'll be alright." Remus, now sitting upright again, took both Natalie's forearms and gently pulled his friend to sit down on the sofa next to him to calm her down.

"Listen, if Dumbledore trusts him then so do I. I don't deny that I'm not pleased by his presence in Hogwarts. But Dumbledore himself asked him to make that potion for me and I don't think that Snape would try to stand against his orders and try to kill me." Lupin said calmly and Natalie sighed.

"Are you sure?" she asked sadly and the werewolf nodded.

Natalie didn't like that idea. Not one bit. But she knew how much the post ment to Remus and also she knew that he would be the damn best teacher of DADA Hogwarts had ever seen.

"So…you'll be Harry's teacher." she said then, already calm again, with a slight smile. Lupin smiled back.

"Yes and frankly, I can't wait." Remus grinned but then his smile faded again. "I haven't seen him in twelve years."

"Neither have I. I still feel guilty for letting him stay with those people."

"What were we supposed to do? I would have loved nothing more than take him but it was Dumbledore's orders, you know that. And I can't say I blame him he didn't give Harry to me." Remus said with a mirthless smile.

"He could have given him to me. I think James would have liked more if Harry lived with his Godmother. Someone, who would treat him like a thirteen-year-old wizard, not a freak."

"You know that Dumbledore did only what he thought was in Harry's best interrest." Remus said quietly.

"Oh, come on, Remus, in Harry's best interrest? Until the age of eleven he didn't even have any idea about magic nor his own parents, you want to tell me that was in his best interrest?"

"Dumbledore couldn't have known they will treate him like that, Natalie."

"I know." Natalie said reluctantly "I just…he's our best friend's son and I haven't seen him in _twelve years_. I feel like I let James and Lily down, you know? They trusted us to take care of Harry if something happened to them. And look at us: Harry's legal guardian's in prison…was in prison….and the two of us are too scared to act against Dumbledore's ordrers."

"We're not scared." Remus interjected "At least not me. I think it was more due to the fact that deep down I know, and I'm sure you do too, that Dumbledore has a point." he said and for a while Natalie didn't say anything.

"You're right." she said then "But I can't wait to tell this excuse to Harry. If I ever see him, that is." she mumbled then. After this, a quiet settled in the room. Not an awkward one, but a comfortable, thoughtful quiet disturbed only by the cracking noise of the fire.

"Don't you wish to be at school again?" Natalie asked suddenly and Remus, who had been deep in his own thoughts, raised his eyes to her.

"Every day." he said without hesitation.


	2. Back to Hogwarts

**Hi, so here's another chapter - I managed rather quickly. Though this one is shorter. Ok, enjoy.**

FLASHBACK

James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Natalie were in their fifth year in Hogwarts. It was a little before Halloween and as every other year, they were already pulling prank after prank. That morning, Natalie came down into the Griffindor common room to meet the boys, as always. When she came down and looked around, the only one of the Marauders she could find was Sirius. He was leaning against the wall and Natalie wondered how had she even recognized him since a girl was literally glued to his face. She just smirked and shook her head. But before she could even make her way to Sirius, the girl pulled away and with a goodbye, she headed back to her dormitory.

"The girl of the week?" Natalie asked with a teasing smile instead of good morning.

"Not for long, I'm afraid." Sirius said, his disapproving gaze following said girl on her way upstairs.

"What's wrong with this one? Oh, wait, let me guess…she laughs at all of your jokes." she said, referring to one of his excuses to break up with a girl. Apparently, that girl had laughed every time he said a joke, even if it was the stupidest thing ever.

"No, that"s not it."

"So? What's the excuse?" Natalie pressed on.

"Not excuse. A perfectly legitimate reason, I reckon. Yesterday, we went out and I was just telling her about this Quidditch game and while listening to me, she began sucking a lock of her hair!" Sirius said with disgusted expression.

"Yuck! Ok, I admit, you actually do have a legitimate reason to dump her." Natalie said and just then, the rest of their friends appeared on the stairs.

"Finally, I'm starving." Natalie said and they all headed to the Great Hall for breakfast before their Potions lesson.

As it was last lesson before Halloween, Proffesor Slughorn was for some reason in a very festive mood. When he came to the classroom, he announced this would be a special lesson when they all would make up their own potion. He gave them some tips on how to do it but then it was just up to them what they would brew. The reactions were different – Natalie thought it might be an interresting task while Remus, who wasn't really good at potions, just frowned. But at the end, they all managed to brew their own potion, even Peter. Instead of cleaning their tools, James and Sirius were fooling around with their potions. James was very proud of his Hiccuping potion and Sirius had invented a potion causing the person who had drained it obtained another set of ears.

"Hey, what have you made?" James asked when he and Sirius came to Natalie's desk and eyed her cauldron with a dark blue, steaming potion.

"Animal potion." she answered absentmindly while she was gathering her tools.

"And what exactely does that do?" James asked and when Natalie finally looked up to answer, she noticed that from his always-tousled hair there were not one, but _three_ more pairs of ears sticking out, much to Sirius´s amusement. The corners of her mouth twitched but she managed to answer with a straight face.

"When you drink it you make only animal sounds instead of speech." She said and turned to her tools again.

"Seriously?" James asked. It was obvious that he was impressed.

"Yeah. The problem is that I'm not sure how does it go off. I think you would need an antidote, which I don't have." she said and left to throw the remains of her caterpillars to the bin. It took just one look to Sirius and James to agree on something: this could be fun.

"Uhm, Natalie?" Sirius asked when she came back.

"Yea?" she said, still cleaning her desk.

"Do you think we could take some of your potion?" Sirius asked with a charming smile.

"Why?" Natalie wondered but then looked up with comprehension "You've got a plan?" she looked at them with anticipation.

"Well…not exactely a plan but…"

"Idea." Sirius completed James' sentence promptly.

"Ok." Natalie shrugged so both James and Sirius took two flacons of her potion, already thinking up a wicked scheme.

In the evening, Sirius and James had a perfect plan and during dinner, they shared it with the rest of their friends. When she heard it, Natalie giggled and Peter laughed while Remus smiled slightly. It was near full moon again and he didn't feel much like laughing.

"Alright, tomorrow we must get up a bit earlier. I might even take the Invisible cloak." James said but Sirius frowned.

"Bollocks, how do you think we all would fit under your cloak?" he said and James frowned as well.

"Right. No Invisible cloak. Ok, so the elves have the breakfast prepared at six so we should meet here at half past five, just to be sure." James said and everyone agreed, although a little reluctant to get up that early just because of a prank.

But they did get up early just because of a prank. At half past five in the morning, the Marauders met in the Griffindor common room, as always, and headed to the kitchens as quietly as they could.

„Ok, so remember: Nat, Moony and Wormtail will distract the house-elves while I and Sirius 'spike' Slytherins' breakfast." James whispered when they were in front of the door to the kitchens.

"We know, Prongs, you already told us twice today." Natalie said sarcastically so James didn't wait for anything else but touched the pear on the painting and in a while, there was a door-handle on its place.

When they entered, Remus, Natalie and Peter did all they could to distract the elves, asking for some food before breakfast. Of course, the elves nodded happily and kindly brought them as much food as they wanted. While they pretended to eat (or ate in Wormtail's case), Sirius and James spilled Natalie's potion into the bowls of food prepared for the Slytherin table. When they were done, Remus, Natalie and Peter thanked the elves for food and left to get ready for breakfast, which was about to get absolutely hilarious.

But little did they know that their prank would go 'a little' wrong. The five friends were almost first in the Great Hall, but not really first; it would have been too suspicious otherwise. All the time during their breakfast, they were watching the Slytherin table with anticipation.

"Hey, why doesn't it work?" Sirius murmured when another Slytherin finished his porridge and nothing happened.

"I don't know. Natalie, are you sure you made that potion right?"f James asked in whisper.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure."

"Then why isn't it-" Sirius was asking but was cut off by a loud crow. In a mischievous anticipation, the Marauders looked to the Slytherin table again but to their surprise, no one seemed to be the unlucky first-one to taste Natalie's Animal Potion.

"What the-" Sirius wondered but again was cut off, this time by Natalie's gasp.

"Oh Merlin." she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand in a horrified gesture. The boys followed her gaze to the staff table. There, as always on a bunch of pillows, was sitting Proffesor Flitwick and instead of talking, he was unmistakably crowing! Then, just a moment later, they heard a shriek of monkey, and upon looking who it was…

"Proffesor Slughorn!" Remus breathed out, as surprised as the others. The whole Great Hall was now watching the staff table in disbelief. After a while, the vast majority of their proffesors were sounding like animal. Proffessor McGonagall was squeaking like a mouse and Proffessor Sinistra was quacking like a duck! In that while, the Marauders had already recovered from their shock and were choking on laughter which they were desperately trying to hold.

A big chaos erupted at the staff table, as all the teachers were trying to talk to each other but the more they talked the more turmoil they caused. Suddenly, a bang echoed through the Great Hall and everyone jumped at least a feet before going quiet. Proffesor Dumledore, who himself was squeaking like a penguin, was still holding his wand. Then he conjured up tables and chalk for evreryone.

"You gits said you knew which table was for the Slytherins." Remus whispered to James and Sirius.

"We did. Something must have happened. Maybe the house elves made a mistake and sent the food for the Slytherins to the Staff table." James concluded.

"Oh, guys? They're looking at us." Natalie whispered and of course, proffessor McGonagall was looking in their direction while Slughorn was writing something to her furiously. Natalie didn't doubt she knew what they were talking about. It was, after all, _her_ potion. Indeed, after a while Proffessor McGonagall and Proffessor Slughorn, accompanied by Proffessor Dumbledore himself, headed to the Griffindor table. Although the Marauders were now in quite a serious trouble, they couldn't help but laugh when they heard their proffessors doing such riddiculous sounds. When the teachers approached them, Proffessor Slughorn began doing that hilarious monkey-shriek and gesticulated furiously at the five teenagers, while every now and then, Proffessor McGonagall chimed in in her mouse-squeak. Natalie had to bite her tongue not to laugh and by the corner of her eye, she could Sirius bitting inside of his cheek, also having problems to keep his face straight. Then she felt Remus' hand brush hers as he was pinching his leg.

However, the teachers didn't share their amusement at all, maybe except Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling, but he let Proffessor McGonagall take care of the pranksters. Unfortunately, Slughorn knew that Natalie had made the Animal potion; she had even got Outstanding for it. Due to their prank, all lessons that day were cancelled, for which the whole school was grateful. But Proffessor McGonagall wasn't grateful at all, and the five friends got a detention for three weeks, except for Natalie, who got detention for a whole month since it was her potion…

END OF FLASHBACK

Just a few days later, it was the first of the September and it was time Remus got to Hogwarts. A day before his departure, he visited Natalie's house as it had been a long time since he had been there. They enjoyed another perfect day of reminiscing old times and next day Remus was leaving with even bigger anticipation than before. Natalie even saw him to the platform to say good-bye to him. Dumbledore had sent an owl to Remus, asking him to go to Hogwarts by train due to Dementor's inspection, which was supposed to take place.

"Alright, so owl me as soon as you get to Hogwarts." Natalie reminded him for at least the hundredth time and Remus chuckled.

"Really, Nat, by this good-bye of yours one would have thought I'm going to stay there forever."

"I know you're not. I'm just worried, that's all." she said uneasily.

"I'm actually worried about you too." Remus said suddenly and then leaned to her slightly and lowered his voice. "Watch out for Sirius." he whispered and although Natalie had never agreed with his opinion that Sirius was a murderer, there was something urgent in her friend's tone and she wasn't able to contradict this time. She merely nodded.

"Hey, Nat, turn around." Lupin said in the same quiet voice and for a while, Natalie didn't know what had he ment. But then she turned around slowly, just to see a family with a bunch of kids; all of them redheads, except for two: a girl with frizzy hair (which wasn't unlike she used to have at the girl's age) and a boy with jet-black hair sticking in all directions.

"James." was her first reaction, but then she realized it wasn't her dead friend. However, the resemblance between Prongs and this boy was striking. "Remus, is- is it _him_?" she asked then, her voice slightly shaking.

"Not a doubt." Remus said behind her.

"He looks like James." Natalie whispered and felt tears in her eyes, threatening to fall

"That he does…except those eyes."

"Should I go and…talk to him?" Natalie asked then.

"And what would you tell him? That you're his long lost Godmother? That would only scare him. Natalie, I know it's not easy but let it go for now. You'll see him again, I know that." Lupin said. Natalie sighed and finally looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed.

"It's easy enough for you to say that. You've got the whole year to spend with him, although you can't tell him who you really are."

"I know. But imagine yourself in his shoes, standing on the platform talking to your friends and a person shows up, telling you she's your Godmother. What would you think?"

"That it's some loony." Natalie said grumpily.

"Precisely. Just wait, you'll meet him, don't worry." Remus said.

When it was time for Remus to get on the train, Natalie hugged him tightly.

"No pranks, Proffesor." she teased and Lupin chuckled.

"I can't guarantee that." he said and Natalie smiled.

"And eat properly." she lectured him strictly and her friend rolled his eyes.

"Here we go again." he mumbled just loud enough for her to hear, but before she managed to answer, he continued. "Don't worry about me. You be careful. I'll owl you very soon." he said, gave her one last hug and got on the train. Natalie stayed on the platform until the Hogwarts Express left and saw that Harry got on the train at the last minute. She just watched the train disappear in the distance before she disapparated.

* * *

**Ok, so that's it for today. So it's back to Hogwarts for Remus. Will Natalie go as well? And when will we meet Sirius? Just wait for it;) And just so you know: perharps if you leave a review, I might work even quicker;)**


	3. Mixed emotions

**Alright, another chapter. Wow, I'm getting quicker and quicker. Btw, thanks for the reviews; keep it on;) Well, I hope you like it...**

Remus kept to his word and owled Natalie every week with the newest updates. Frankly, Natalie couldn't wait to read the news from Hogwarts. She was interested in everything in Hogwarts from the ghosts to Remus' lessons and not in the last place about Harry Potter. It troubled her to read about Harry's problems with the Dementors and when Remus wrote her about Harry's accident during his Quidditch match, she was almost determined to set out for Hogwarts. However, her common sense stopped her. Sometimes, she even sent Remus magical animals for his lessons as she had plenty of them at home.

In February, however, she received a rather different kind of a letter. When Natalie saw the Hogwarts seal, her heart rate quickened, as she immediately believed that something had happened. But when she opened the letter, she found a brief note from Dumbledore, asking her to be at home at seven p.m., as he was in need to discuss an important matter with her. That day Natalie couldn't even sit still, she was anxious to see Dumbledore and find out what he might want from her. Right at seven o'clock, the fire in Natalie's fireplace turned green and the Hogwarts headmaster stepped out, smiling brightly at his former student.

"Good evening, Natalie." he said pleasantly and Natalie smiled despite her nervosity.

"It's good to see you, Proffesor." she said.

"Now, Natalie, it's been quite some time since you were a student. There's no need to call me Proffesor." he said kindly.

"Alright. Please, do take a seat. Would you like some tea?" she asked immediately.

"Tea would be nice, thank you." Dumbledore said and Natalie rushed to make some. When she was done, she served the tea in front of Dumbledore and sat down opposite of him, anticipating the explanation.

"I think you wonder why I wished to talk to you…" Dumbledore began and Natalie quickly nodded.

"I do, sir." she said, a little apprehensively.

"No need to be concerned, Natalie." the old man said kindly and took a sip of his tea. "I'm sure you heard about Hagrid's recent trouble with the Comitee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures." he said and Natalie nodded again. Of course she had, Remus had been informing her about everything.

"I heard about it. Is that why you came? Is there anything I can do for Hagrid?" she asked immediately.

"I'm affraid there's nothing you can do for Hagrid right now but I still need your help. Next week Hagrid has to attend a hearing concerning Buckbeak. He'll be in London for several days and I need someone to substitute his lessons. And since I know about your experience with animals…" with that Dumbledore paused and looked around her living room, where several cages with different kinds of birds were placed, a cat was calmly lying next to him on the sofa and Natalie's Crup was madly running around. "I know you would be the right person to substitute for him. Just for a week."

As soon as Dumbledore said it, Natalie's face lit up. She would be going to Hogwarts!

"I will be very pleased to do that, sir." she said happily and Dumbledore smiled.

"I thought you would. And I think that Professor Lupin will be also pleased to see you." he said and got up from the sofa. "I shall expect your arrival this Sunday, so you have enough of time to prepare for your lessons." he said.

"I'll be there." Natalie answered with excitement. She was looking forward to it so much she couldn't even fall asleep that night. Truthfully, she had been to Hogwarts only two months ago, to visit Remus during Christmas and spend Christmas Day with him, but she was happy nonetheless, to be spending there the whole week!

* * *

Harry had hardly ever been in bigger trouble. Just a short while ago he had been just sitting in Snape's office, still trying to wipe his hands into his robes and silently praying for some idea how to get out of this mess, but now he was also trying to control his anger as he was listening to Snape's insults to his father and himself. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore but than again – was shouting at Snape to 'shut up' a good idea? '_Hardly_' he realized when he saw Snape's furious look. Well, too late now. So Harry took a breath and decided to finish what he had started…

"I told you to shut up about my dad! I know the truth, all right? Dumbledore told me! You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my dad!" Harry yelled angrily.

"And did the Headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life? Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you – your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me which would have resulted in my death if your father hadn't got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin just as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts." Snape said slyly and then added something that made Harry's insides squirm…

"Turn out your pockets, Potter." he spat but Harry didn't move. He couldn't move. "Pull out your pockets or we're going straight to the Headmaster!" Snape shouted again and Harry began reluctantly pulling the things out of his pockets, shakily putting the bag of Zonko's tricks and the Marauder's map on the table. The Zonko's tricks wouldn't be a problem if he would manage to warn Ron in time, but then Snape turned his attention to the Marauders Map and Harry could feel cold sweat on his forehead.

"It's a spare bit of parchment." he tried to answer Snape's question about the Map as nonchalantly as he could but he knew himself that he wasn't doing a good job. And he failed althogether when Snape pretended to burn the map. The Potions master smirked.

"Is this another treasured gift from Mr. Weasley? Or is it…something else? A letter perharps written in invisible ink? Or instructions to get into Hogsmead without passing the dementors?" he said. '_Oh Merlin, he knows._' Harry thought and something must have reflected on his face because Snape immediately lit up.

"Let me see. Let me see." he muttered and tried to get the map working. "Professor Severus Snape, Master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal." he said and to Harry's horror, words slowly appeared on the parchment. Yes, it was official – he was finished. But he couldn't help but look what exactely were the writtings saying.

_**Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of others people**__**'s business!**_

Harry's jaw almost fell to the floor. This wasn't supposed to be there! But maybe it was better, right? Well, he changed that opinion quickly when he saw that it wasn't all.

_**Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git!**_

Harry didn´t even had time to wonder when another words appeared again.

_**Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor!**_

Harry closed his eyes in horror. But the map sure didn't stop at that.

_**Miss. Swanny suggests t**__**hat Professor Snape should go to attend his stinky potions and pets in jars and leave Harry Potter alone!**_

Harry just noted with a slight surprise that one of the Marauders was a woman. He had never thought about it before.

_**Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball!**_

To Harry's slight surprise Snape didn't give him a look and instead called Professor Lupin…

* * *

When Remus saw the Map, his heart almost stopped. He hadn't thought he would see it again and yet, here it was lying, obviously confiscated from Harry. That Map brought many memories but something was telling him that now wasn't the time to dwell on past. With a usual calmness, he managed to pull Harry out of trouble (although he was sure that as his professor he wasn't really supposed to), and he even took the Marauders Map. Frankly, now he wasn't sure what to do with Harry. He was obviously using the Map to get to Hogsmead and although it was greatly irresponsible with Sirius Black running around, Remus knew that with his friends at school they had been doing much worse things. Also, he was feeling rather proud of Harry that he had managed to work with their map. But he surely couldn't let him know that. Instead, he gave Harry a lecture about his irresponsible behaviour and he was sure he managed to raise a guilty in the boy's conscience.

Remus loved teaching but situations like that made him uneasy. What was he supposed to do? Harry was his best friend's son and Remus knew James would only approve of Harry's actions but what should Remus do? He managed to persuade himself that he was doing it for Harry's safety. After all, Sirius Black was dangerous.

* * *

Natalie breathed in the morning air and happily. She was in Hogwarts again, all ready to begin her first lesson. She was even more excited after finding out that her first lesson would be the third years – Griffindor and Slytherin, that ment Harry's year!

Anxiously, she was waiting in front of the castle for her students, her Crup Cleo happily running around, sniffing. After a while of waiting, a bunch of students came out and curiously looked around. Natalie realized they were probably expecting Hagrid and were a little confused when they didn't see his big posture.

"Where is Hagrid?" a girl asked in confusion.

"I'd say he's in that shack of his, crying his eyes out for his beloved hippogriff." Natalie heard a boy with silvery blond hair and a pale face. Of course, Mr. Malfoy. She had heard everything about him from her werewolf friend. The other students were eyeing her curiously.

"Good morning, everyone!" Natalie greeted them cheerily, pretending not hear Malfoy's sneering remark. "I'm Professor Crane and I have today's lesson with you instead of Hagrid." she said and immediately, a murmur erupted from the crowd of students.

"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry asked aloud and Natalie had to use all her self-control to keep her face emotionless.

"He's not available today and I'm affraid he won't be for the next week." Natalie explained shortly, not really giving away any information. "Now, if you would follow me, we have a lot of work to do." she said and with headed down to the meadow behind the greenhouses. But just a moment later, Harry caught up with her.

"What's wrong with Hagrid?" he asked again, eyeing Natalie suspiciously, as if she was the one to blame for Hagrid's absence. Natalie sighed and looked behind them to see if the others were far enough not to overhear.

"Hagrid's alright, Harry. He went to London with his hippogriff. But I don't think it's wise to talk about it in front of the whole the class, as not to give _some_ people a topic to discuss, alright?" she said and looked at him again. Harry was looking at her with amazement, whether it was because he hadn't expected her to tell him the deal so openly or because she knew his name. Wordlessly, he nodded and joined his friends again.

Natalie led them to a meadow where at least twenty cages were placed and in every one, there was a bird. A few feet from the cages, Natalie stopped and turned to her students again.

"Now, does anyone know what kind of bird is this?" Natalie asked her students and only one girl raised her hand. Nat recognized her as the girl coming with Harry to the platform at the beginning of the term.

"Yes?"

"It's a Fwooper." the girl responded and Natalie nodded.

"Indeed. What's your name?" she asked then.

"Hermione Granger." the girl answered.

"Hermione is right, it is a Fwooper. This bird comes originally from Africa. When you see someone writing with a beautiful quill, you can be sure it comes from a Fwooper. Many people own Fwoopers as pets in order to have fancy quills. However, the Fwooper must be in a VERY good mood to give you some of his feathers. Fwooper's singing is said to be very beautiful but there's a catch. Does anyone know what?" Natalie asked and again, Hermione Granger was the only one to raise her hand.

"Hermione?"

"Fwooper's song is beautiful but drives people to insanity." she replied and Natalie gave her a bright smile.

"Very good. Five points for Griffindor." Natalie said and Hermione lit up.

"So, in this lesson you'll learn how to take care of Fwoopers. But be careful, although kept as pets they are not owls; they're tamed birds so they can peck you or scratch you quite nicely. All right, come here, everyone gets a Fwooper. All of them have a Silencing Charm on them so you don't have to worry about their singing. Here's all kind of food you can think of." Natalie pointed to cardboard boxes she had prepared "I won't tell you what they like to eat and what they don't, that's your task to find out. You'll find out what they like, what they don´t like, some specific behaviour, just _everything_ about them and you'll be taking notes." Natalie gave them instructions while the kids made a queue to get a Fwooper.

"Here, Miss Brown." Natalie said and gave the girl a cage with the bird.

"You'll get a green one, Mr. Potter." she said to Harry and gave him a cage with a nice green Fwooper. Ron behind him got an orange one.

"One for you, Mr. Malfoy." Natalie said innocently and gave Malfoy a pink Fwooper. Harry and Ron sniggered and Malfoy's eyes were glaring daggers at her. However, he didn't dare to tell her anything he just carried the cage to his place.

* * *

When Harry, Ron and Hermione came out of the castle, accompanied by other students, they expected to see Hagrid's huge form, just like every other Monday. However, the giant was nowhere to be seen and Harry felt an uneasy sensation in his stomach. Instead, in the place of Hagrid, there was a woman and around her, a small dog was skipping, in which Harry recognized a Jack Russel terier. But when he looked at the small dog more closely, his eyes went wide when he noticed its tail was forked. Now, after almost three years of studying magic, he wasn't very surprised but he was sure that just a few years ago, he would have been stunned. Instead, he turned his attention to the woman and looked at her closely. She could be in her early thirties and although Harry was absolutely sure he had never seen her before, there was something strangely familiar in her, Harry only couldn't put his finger on what. But where was Hagrid? At that moment, he heard Parvati voice his thoughts. But the answer of Professor Crane was highly unsatisfactory to him and he decided to confront her about it…

"… I don't think it's wise to talk about it in front of the whole the class, as not to give _some_ people a topic to discuss, alright?" Professor Crane told him and with a slight satisfaction, Harry realized that she wasn't a very big fan of Draco Malfoy. He was also surprised that she talked to him so openly. The only person, except Professor Dumbledore, who was absolutely opened to him, was Professor Lupin.

The lesson was one of the best lessons of the Care for Magical animals they had ever had. They were trying to find out what their Fwoopers liked while Professor Crane was going around, giving advices. With delight, Harry wrote down that his Fwooper was very keen of boiled rice and mashed bananas, and that it surely seemed to enjoy nothing more than having its feathers brushed. Their lesson was disturbed by only two incidents:

Natalie was just tending to Seamus when they all clearly heard Malfoy's muttering.

"Just come closer again, you stupid dog, and you'll regret it." he said and Natalie briskly turned around just in time to see Malfoy attempting to kick her Crup.

"Malfoy, don't move!" she shouted in a steely voice. The whole class froze. The Fwoopers froze. Malfoy froze. With a determined bounce in her step, Natalie approached him and bent down to his level. "Twenty points from Slytherin." she said, her eyes gleaming dangerously. "Try it again, Mr. Malfoy. Just so much as look at my Crup and _you´ll be_ the one regretting it." she said and headed back to Seamus. But when she was just a few steps away, she heard another one of Malfoy's remarks.

"I would like to see what you would do to me, _Professor_." he taunted although he didn't dare to do so in more than a murmur. But Natalie had heard him and she whipped around abruptly, the dangerous gleam in her eyes was replaced by a _very_ mischievous look.

"One more word, Mr. Malfoy, and you can be sure to have a detention exactely on a day of your Quidditch match." She said slyly and looked at him intently. As Harry watched her threaten Malfoy, he wondered who she really was. She wasn't like other teachers he knew. At the first sight, she seemed to be kind and funny but now, there was something almost intimidating in her. When Harry saw the look in her flashing blue eyes, he realized that she wasn't the kind of a person he would like to get into a fight with. In the meantime, Professor Crane and Malfoy were glaring at each other angrily; Malfoy obviously thinking up some other insult while Natalie was challenging him with her look. But their wordless fight was interrupted by a loud crash and a slight squeak.

Natalie turned around immediately and when she saw Neville on the ground and an opened cage beside him, she rushed to him.

"Neville, what happened?" she asked and the anger in her eyes was immediately replaced by concern.

"I- I must have bumped into the cage with my Fwooper. It fell on the ground, got opened a-and the Fwooper f-flew away." Neville stummered, obviously frightened of Natalie's reaction being same as when Malfoy had tried to attack her dog. But Natalie just looked up to the sky and then at a nearby tree and smiled slightly, an idea forming in her head.

"That's alright, Neville." she said and to Neville's utmost relief she really didn't sound angry. "Actually, that could be a part of your task. You see, your Fwooper is up there, on that tree. I could easily use the Summoning charm and get it down. However, I want you to try to get it down by yourself. Try to lure it by some kind of food. You must have already found out what does it like. You can consider it a special practice." Natalie suggested kindly and comfortingly patted Neville's shoulder.

The rest of the lesson passed in peace, although Neville didn't manage to get his Fwooper down from the tree and Professor Crane had to use the Summoning charm. She had the Fwooper back in its cage in a matter of seconds.

"Alright, that's enough for today. I'll probably have you the next lesson as well so I'll give you homework. I want you to write a short essay about Fwoopers, you'll use the notes you took today. And now, did someone of you get a feather from your Fwooper?" she asked and a few students raised their hands, including Harry, Ron and Hermione. Professor Crane nodded with a smile.

"Very good job, indeed. Five points for everyone who managed it. And you can keep those feathers." she added "That's all, you can go back to the castle." she dismissed her class.

But Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't go back to the castle. Instead, they headed to Hagrid's hut to visit Fang and see if he needed feeding. All the way there, Hermione chattered about the lesson.

"It's not that I don't like Hagrid but this was the best lesson of the Care for Magical Animals we've ever had."

"It was…interesting." Harry agreed, still clutching the new lime green quill he had got from his Fwooper.

When they got to Hagrid's they patted Fang for a while, gave him fresh water and something to eat and then slowly headed back to the castle just in time for lunch. But when they were crossing the backyard, where several benches were placed, Harry saw something what caught his attention: on a bench, slightly secluded from the others, there was sitting Professor Lupin, absolutely absorbed in talk with Professor Crane, who was sitting beside him and slightly leaning into him as they both were looking at a parchment. Lupin was explaining her something while Professor Crane was intently looking at the parchment in which Harry to his utmost disbelief recognized…

"The Marauder's Map!" he gasped and stopped. Ron and Hermione looked at him in puzzlement.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Professor Lupin is showing Professor Crane the Marauder's Map!" Harry exclaimed, but only so loud that they wouldn't be overheard.

"What?" both Ron and Hermione asked and followed Harry's look.

"Maybe it's not the Marauder's Map." Hermione suggested "They are quite far away; it could be any other parchment."

"It is. I'd recognize it anywhere." Harry said and then began walking again. "I would just like to know why is he showing it to her."Harry mused, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I would like to know how they know each other." Hermione said instead and both Ron and Harry gave her surprised looks.

"How can you be so sure they know each other?" Ron voiced the thoughts for both of them and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"It's obvious they haven't just met, isn't it?"

"Yeah, probably. But why is it important?" Ron asked. With that, Hermione just mumbled something what sounded like "Boys" and headed to the Great Hall with a headstart.

* * *

When Natalie put all the cages into their places and let the remains of the food vanish, she headed to the castle too, her dog following her, happily jumping around her feet. But even before Natalie came to the main gate, she saw a person waiting outside. Even from the distance, she recognized her friend. When she had arrived the day before, she had been so busy she hadn't managed to see Remus and today, she had only seen him at breakfast. He had been absolutely shocked to see her sitting at the staff table, as Natalie had purposely forgotten to mention her job in Hogwarts in order to surprise him. And he had been late for breakfast and Natalie had been in rush to get prepared for her first lesson, so she hadn't managed to talk to him either. But someone had obviously informed him about her substituting in Hogwarts already, seeing as he knew what her lessons were.

"Well, hello Rem- _Professor Lupin_!" she corrected herself with a wide grin. Remus just shook his head.

"I would have expected everything but that I would find you teaching here as well…" he said incredulously.

"Substituting." Natalie corrected him.

"Why didn´t you tell me you would come, _Professor Crane_?" Remus asked with the same teasing tone.

"Surprise!" Natalie said. "You actually waited here for me to welcome me? Aww, that is so nice of you." She teased.

"Well, that too, but I have something to show you and I thought it would be better if other teachers didn't see it." he said and led her to a bench.

"Alright, now you got me curious. What is it?" Natalie asked excitedly so Remus reached to his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment. For a while, Natalie looked at it, not understanding, but then a realization dawned on her.

"Oh my…Remus, where did you get it? I thought it was in Filch's drawer."

"I did too. However, yesterday I confiscated it. From Harry." he added and Natalie's eyes went wide once again.

"How for all in the world did Harry come to this?"

"I don't know. But Harry was using it to get to Hogsmead and yesterday, he was caught by Snape." he said and Natalie gasped.

"And?" she encouraged her friend and she was now looking at the map intently, at those so familiar lines, some of them made by her own hand.

"He didn't have any proof. The Map was erased when he found it and I managed to pull Harry out of trouble. But I didn't give it back to him." he explained and Natalie nodded, still fascinated by the map.

"However," Remus added with a mirth in his voice, "Snape was trying to find out what the Map really was." he said and Natalie laughed, knowing perfectly well what would happen if someone couldn't work with the Map properly.

"I wish I could have seen what the Map said." Natalie sighed when she stopped laughing.

"In that case, you're lucky. I saw it." Lupin said with a smile and repeated her everything what the Marauder's Map had said to their old enemy. When Remus finished, Natalie was literally doubled with laughter, clearly seeing Snape reading those words.

"Oh my- Oh m-" she only managed to choke out before a new wave of laughter stroke her and her friend chuckled at her.

"That was great." she said when she finally stopped laughing. But then she looked at her watch and gasped „Oh bollocks, it's almost after lunch and then I have the first years" she said and got up abruptly "You're coming?" she asked Remus who nodded and got up as well and together they headed to the Great Hall.

On their way, Natalie was still thinking about the Map. What fun had they had with it. It seemed almost unreal to her now, when she came back after all those years and still saw that as much as their lives changed, the castle was remained the same.

"_Here, on these stairs, I fell and broke my arm when we were trying to escape Filch._" she remembered whith a slight smile. They had sprayed Mrs. Noriss' fur green and had been escaping Filch's wrath. But Natalie had tripped. Remus and Sirius had stayed behind with her and tried to help her but they all had been caught and ended in a detention.

When Natalie went to bed that night, she couldn't help but think about her friends, the Marauders. Moony, Prongs, Padfoot, Swanny and Wormtail. It was unbelievable that of all the Marauders only were two remaining.

"_Three_" Natalie thought with a slight pang which she was feeling anytime she thought of Sirius. Wherever was he right now? She had to admit that she had come to Hogwarts with a slight hope that he would show up again here or that she would run into him, but immediately she scolded herself. She shouldn't think like that, giving herself a false hope.

* * *

**Alright, end for today. Well, still no Sirius, huh? But hold on, I solemnly swear he will be in the next chapter in all glory (tomorrow, perharps...but no promises). So keep tuned;)**


	4. Sympathy for the Devil

**Hello! Back again with another chapter and as promised, this one with Mr. Padfoot. Finally! Well, enjoy;)**

* * *

It was a warm evening in early June. Harry and Hermione were just flying on Buckbeak and counting windows to Professor Flitwick's office. Finally, they found the right one and helped Sirius Black run away once again. Harry maneuvered Buckbeak to the West Tower, where they landed.

"Sirius, you'd better go, quick!" Harry said after he and Hermione dismouted Buckbeak.

"What happened to the other boy? Ron?" Sirius asked instead.

"He's going to be ok. He's still out of it but Madame Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Professor Dumbledore…" Harry suddenly remembered the message they were supposed to tell Sirius. "He…we were supposed to tell you to go south to look for your friend. He said you would understand." Harry said quickly, silently praying that his Godfather would understand because himself, he didn't have any idea what was that supposed to mean. But to his relief Sirius just nodded.

"How can I ever thank-" he said but Harry and Hermione cut him off by an unison Go!

"We will see each other again. You are truly your father's son, Harry." he said and with that, he and Buckbeak were off.

* * *

Natalie just finished feeding her animals and accompanied by her dog Cleo, she went inside. It used to be her grandparents' house and she had grown up here. She couldn't just live at another place; this was and always had been her home and although it surely hadn't had any magical animals in the garden before, she left it just as it always had been. She was just pondering having dinner when the flames in her fireplace turned green and a head of the Hogwarts' Head Master appeared in them.

"Professor Dumbledore?" she asked with a great surprise and knelt down in front of the fireplace.

"Good evening, Natalie." he said, in his usual kind voice.

"Did anything happen?" she asked, since this wasn't the most usual situation. Not that communication by the Floo was strange to her, but she knew that the old wizard just prefered personal contact to sticking his head into flames.

"Yes, a lot of things happened." he said and Natalie's still trained mind didn't miss Dumbledore's unusual lack of courtesy and jokes. He seemed as if he was in a hurry and indeed…

"Listen to me. I don't have a lot of time to explain you the whole situation. In short, Sirius Black has been caught tonight-"

"WHAT?" Natalie cried out but the Headmaster didn't seem to be bothered by her reaction as he continued.

"And he escaped again, with help of your Godson. I want to ask you to hide him for a while; he needs to lay low now. I already told him to go to your place, so you can expect him. I'm sure I can rely on you that you won't hand an _innocent_ man to the Dementors."

"I won't, Professor. I always knew he was innocent." Natalie said and Dumbledore smiled.

"I'm glad to hear it. And also, I will send you a wand through the floo. Please, let him have it." he said and Natalie nodded. "Alright, I bid you good evening, Natalie, but unfortunately, I can't delay any longer." he said.

"Alright, thank you for your message." Natalie smiled and Dumbledore's head vanished. In a few seconds, a wand flew through the fireplace and Natalie caught it expertly.

Natalie was now feeling nervous. Just a while ago, her heart had been beating furiously when Dubmledore mentioned that Sirius had been captured, but now, that wild beating now didn't have anything to do with dread but nervousness. She hadn't seen Sirius in more than twelve years. What was he like now? Those twelve years ago, she had loved him and she finally had been beginning to believe that he felt the same. And now, while she was still harbouring feelings for him, she didn't know what to expect. With displeasure, she realized that she had to expect an entirely strange person. She had no idea how much those years in Azkaban had changed him, although she didn't doubt that horribly. Would he even remember her? Well, obviously, considering he was coming here…

For now, Natalie decided she wouldn't burden him with pouring out her heart to him, that just wouldn't be right, would it? He had just run away from the dementors for the second time, for Merlin's sake! Right now, he would need a friend and that's what he would get.

With those thoughts she calmed down a bit and tiredly plopped down into an armchair and stared into flames in the fireplace, not even realizing that her eyes were slowly drooping.

She was pulled from her slumber by a slight pop and scratching. She woke up and looked around the room. No one was there but Cleo was awake, with perked up ears he was staring at the door to the garden, from where the scratching was coming. A little apprehensively, Natalie got up and went to the door. When she opened it, she found a familiar huge black dog and she breathed out with relief, just to feel her heart beating wildly again. Immediately, she stepped aside and let the dog in, much to the dismay of her Crup. As soon as she closed the door again, on the place of dog, there was standing a tall man now.

"Hello, Natalie." he said in a hoarse voice. But altough those twelve years had changed him beyond recognition, Natalie still could see the resemblance between this man and her old friend. "Please, before you pull out your wand and call someone from the Ministry, let me explain-" he started but stopped abruptly when Natalie literally launched herself on him and hugged him. She was actually mildly surprised by her reaction as well. Sirius first tensed a little since he wasn't used to a human touch anymore, but then he relaxed and hugged her back.

After a while of clinging to each other, Natalie noticed that her friend was shaking and with a guilty pang, she realized that he was probably exhausted. It didn't pass her attention that he was skinny; she could feel his ribcage even through the fabric of his ragged robes. She pulled away from him and without asking, she led him to her sofa. Upon a closer look she saw several quite fresh scratches on his face, which was now smudged not only by dirt but blood as well.

"Gosh, what happened?" she asked with concern.

"Just a few scratches. Natalie, let me explain everything. I didn't-" he said but she laid her fingers over his lips.

"I know. I always knew. Besides, just a few hours ago I talked to Dumbledore. I still want you to explain everything to me but first…you must be hungry." she said and Sirius gave her a strange look. It'd been thirteen years since someone had talked to him so kindly, except for those few last moments spent with his Godson and Remus, and it'd also been thirteen years since someone had offered him a decent meal. Wordlessly, he nodded and that seemed to get Natalie into her caring-mode.

"Alright. I'll fetch you something to eat and maybe you'd like a hot bath in the meantime?" she suggested.

"Yeah, I would." Sirius said hoarsely and nodded again.

"Then follow me." Natalie smiled so Sirius got up and followed her to the bathroom. "Right, you´ll need…" she pondered aloud and then flicked her wand several times. Immediately, the bathtub filled with steaming water, and soap, towels, clean clothes, and also scissors and a razor appeared on the chair beside it. "That should do…" Natalie said thoughtfully but then she remembered "Oh, and this," she said and pulled out another wand "is from Dumbledore." she put the wand on the chair as well.

"Alright, take as long as you want, I'll be in the kitchen." she said and left.

Sirius had expected various welcomes but definitely not one like this. He had been used to everyone thinking he was a murderer; he definitely hadn't expected someone would leap around his neck immediately. However, he had to admit that it felt good, even more because it was Natalie. She was still the same as he remembered her. Still had the same soft blue eyes, although he noted a hint of sadness in them which definitely hadn't been there before, and she still smelled of vanilla.

He quickly took off his filthy clothes, and when he looked at it, he was surprised that Natalie had let him sit on her sofa, let alone touched him. He himself wouldn't even go anywere close to himself. With a disgusted expression, he took the wand and with a flick, he let the pile of rags vanish. Only when he stepped into the hot water he realized how cold he had been. For thirteen years, actually. The water was so hot that his pale skin turned red, but it wasn't so hot to burn him. Sirius took a deep breath and submerged under the water altogether and when he surfaced, he had to supress an urge to shake like a dog. Now when he thought about that, hot baths had definitely been near the top of the list of things he had been missing in Azkaban.

When he got out of the bath, he got dressed into the clothes Natalie had prepared for him and then took the wand again. With its help, he managed to cut and clean his fingernails and toenails, which had been reminding of claws but now looked normal again, and then he used the wand to fix his teeth. After using the scissors and razor, he finally could look into the mirror without cringing. Altought gaunt and much older, he was finally looking like his old-self. Except the deep lines on his face and his eyes. He wondered if the haunted look would ever go away. But the rumble in his stomach reminded him not to dwell on his looks for now anymore and with a sigh, he headed to the kitchen.

In the meantime, Natalie was busy in the kitchen. She turned on her favourite rock music to calm her nerves and also as one of her habits when she was cooking. She was humming softly along with the music and even before Sirius was finished with his bath, she had the dinner ready. When she looked at the table with all the food, she bit her lower lip wondering if she hadn't cooked too much. It looked more like a feast, not a simple dinner. She even served there an apple pie, which she had baked the day before. When the dinner was served, she set a cauldron to the fireplace and began making a potion for Sirius, which would help him with his sore throat. Just as she was giving it last touches, she heard steps in the hallway.

"All done?" she asked when she felt his presence in the doorway but she didn't turn around.

"Yes, thank you." Sirius said and Natalie finally looked up and with a loud bang, she dropped the ladle when she saw her friend. He looked nothing like the man she had left in the bathroom. He was clean and shaven and he cut his hair. His hair still wasn't exactely short, it reached the base of his neck and in front, it was falling into his eyes. He was wearing the clothes she had given to him, wich was too big on him now but she was sure that with regular meals he would soon fill it out again.

"Earth to, Natalie." she was pulled out of her daydreaming abruptly.

"Sorry, I just…you look good." she said awkwardly but immediately she shook it off „Oh, here, this should help your voice." she said and gave him a goblet with a steaming potion.

"Thanks." he said and took it. When he took a sip, he scrunched his face in a disgusted gesture.

"Oh, come on, I know it's not exactely a mojito but it will help you. Just drink it and we can have dinner."

Sirius did as he had been told, and finished his potion as quickly as he could, with as few disgusted looks as he could manage.

"Not that bad." he said when he finished, and happily noted that his voice got to normal again, although it was hard to determine what exactely was normal after so many years.

"I'm sure." Natalie chuckled „Come on, let's have dinner." she said and led him into her dinning room.

"Whoa, Nat, how many people will be dinning here?" Sirius asked when he saw the table and Natalie shrugged apologetically.

"I guess I couldn't help it." she smiled sheepishly. They both sat down to the table and tucked into their meals, starting with soup. During the meal, they didn't talk much. Sirius was busy attacking the food and frankly, Natalie didn't know what to say, she was just watching him happily, glad to have him back. After dinner, they went to sit down back on the sofa but Natalie immediately jumped up again, saying she would just make tea for them and left to the kitchen.

"Oh, you should know that I left a hippogriff in your garden." Sirius said. He followed to the kitchen but when he offered her help and she denied, he just leaned against the doorframe, watching her intently.

"I know. We're already friends." Natalie said with a smile. Of course, she had recognized Buckbeak; she had visited Hagrid several times, everytime offering him her help. She had even offered to take Buckbeak and hide him at her place but he had denied. "But I had to tie him a little more back in the garden so he wouldn't eat the Puffskeins." she said and set two cups on the counter.

"You've got Puffskeins?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah. And all other kind of animals you can think of." she answered and gave him one of the cups of tea. "Shall we go sit down?" she suggested so they returned to the sitting room.

"Alright, first things first." Natalie said after they sat down on the sofa and put down her cup. "These scratches need treatment." she said resolutely and pulled out an oitment she had taken with herself from the kitchen. "May I?" she asked hesitantly after she got some on her finger. Sirius just nodded, not taking his eyes from her face. "This may…this may sting a little." she said, finding herself captivated by his look. Exactely what she didn't want to happen.

However, she still brought her finger to his face and as carefully as she could, she applied the ointment on the scratches on his nose and forehead. Although the ointment did sting in the scratches, Sirius didn't cringe; on the contrary, he found himself so caught up by the calming feeling of her finger on his face and by her blue eyes that he almost didn't feel any pain at all. Finally, the scratches on his face healed and vanished so Natalie pulled her hand away and it seemed to break the spell between them. Sirius blinked several times as if coming from a daydream and then took a sip of his tea awkwardly, while Natalie put down the tube of ointment and took her cup again. For a while, there was tense quiet between them until Natalie sighed and decided to break it.

"So, if you feel up to it you can start, but we can leave it for tomorrow. Maybe you would rather get some sleep." she said.

"No, let's talk." Sirius said resolutely and when Natalie nodded, he started his story and Natalie listened carefully, not interrupting him at all. His story started thirteen years ago, he told her everything about switching places with Wormtail, finding Lily and James dead in their house and ending up in prison. He didn't tell her much about Azkaban, it just didn't seem right to tell her about all those horrible things which were still haunting him. It was enough he knew about it, she didn't need to know what Azkaban really looked like. He just told her how he had managed to stay sane and how, and mainly why, had he escaped. Then he told her how he had spent the last year in Hogwarts, and Natalie mentally kicked herself for not figuring it out herself. Of course, he had hidden in the Shrieking Shack, it was a perfect place. When he was talking about the encounter in the Shrieking Shack which had happened just several hours ago, Natalie was sitting on the edge of the sofa, listening with wide eyes. Finally, Sirius finished by telling her of his escape on Buckbeak.

"Oh, Sirius, I had no idea about any of this." she said when he finished and he looked at her suspiciously.

"You've told me you knew I was innocent." he arched his eyebrow and Natalie remembered that he used this expression even in Hogwarts.

"Of course I did. But not because I knew what happened. I knew you and trusted you, just as James did, and those things they were saying about you were absurd for someone who really knew you. And then," she added with a bitter smile "I always told you and James of my suspicion of Peter being the traitor, while you two thought it was Remus. And I still believed my judgement even after you were taken to Azkaban."

"You don't know how sorry I am for not trusting your judgement." he said sadly.

"I think I do. So…what happens now?" Natalie asked him.

"Dumbledore told me to hide for some time. That is…if you let me." he looked at her almost shyly and Natalie chuckled.

"What, you don't think I would kick you out, do you?"

"Well…I _am_ a convict." he shrugged.

"And my friend. You can stay here as long as you want. I reckon it's safe enough here."

"I don't doubt that." Sirius said and relaxed a little, leaning back against the cushions. "So now, tell me about yourself."

"Myself?" Natalie chuckled again. "Whatever would you like to know?"

"Everything. You live here alone?" he asked and suddenly looked around as if expecting someone else to burst into the room.

"Of course not." Natalie said in a 'duh' voice and Sirius raised his eyebrows quizzical.y "I have my pets here." she said and at that moment, Cleo barked in high-pitched voice and a cat leaped on Natalie's lap.

"Is that Luco?" Sirius asked in disbelief, refering to the white cat, which Natalie had got for her fifteenth birthday from her grandparents.

"Indeed." Natalie smiled "and this Crup is Cleo." she introduced her dog.

"Cute." Sirius, who seemed to be at ease again, said "What else? Are you still an Auror?" he asked and Natalie's face darkened.

"I haven't been an Auror in thirteen years." she said and it was another shock for Sirius.

"What? Impossible!" he exclaimed "Wh- why not? You made a wonderful Auror" at that, Natalie gave a bitter chuckle.

"You ment to say _we_ had made wonderful Aurors. With you and James, the three of us may have been a great team. But that wasn't the reason…" Natalie said reluctantly.

"Then why?" Sirius pressed on before he could stop himself.

Natalie sighed and for a while pondered what to say. "Because…because after you were taken to Azkaban without a trial, I didn't see any sense in that job anymore." she said then. Sirius didn't answer immediately; he just ran his bony hand over his face in a tired gesture.

"Guess I ruined the lives of people I loved in more ways than I imagined." he said bitterly and now it was Natalie's turn to gape at him.

"What? How can you say that? This was not your fault, none of this was. It wasn't you who betrayed James and Lily, regardless of what you think. You couldn't have known what would happen. Understand? And who knows, I would probably ditch that job anyway, another people would be taken to Azkaban without trial, it was just because of you that the sense kicked in sooner but it was inevitable."

"Still doesn't make me feel any less guilty." he said darkly and Natalie sighed and put a hand onto his shoulder.

"I know. But you'll come to your senses eventually. When we catch Wormtail, everything will be alright."

"It won't bring them back to life." he said gravely.

"No. No, it won't. But you didn't kill them, you wanted to protect them. Voldemort killed them."

"Nat, they died because I-" he said but Natalie silenced him by putting her fingers over his lips.

"It's not true. How can you know they wouldn't have died either way if you were the Secret keeper?"

"I would rather have died than betray them, you know that!"

"I know that. But you know that there are things worse than death. Don't-" she said when she saw him taking a breath to contradict "Don't. I know you wouldn't deliberately betray them, as neither would I, but you can't know what would happen. That's all I'm saying." she said in a firm voice and Sirius nodded. He remembered that it always had been hard to argue with her, she had had answer for everything.

"Alright. So, what do you do? I want to get to know you again." he said then and Natalie smiled sadly.

"I take care of animals now. People just bring their pet and I heal it."

"Unbelievable." Sirius shook his head and Natalie laughed.

"It's not that unbelievable, you know. I love animals. Besides, it's not the only job I've done and I don't think I'll stay at it."

"What else have you done?"

"After I ditched the job at the Ministry, I was changing job after job; I was a bartender, a shop assistant in Diagon alley, then I got another job at Ministry, then I was an assistant; but most of the jobs I couldn't stand or I was sacked because of my…temper problems. Then I just traveled a bit, I guess I wanted to forget all of the things that happened in England… not that any traveling helped. Now I take care of animals and this year I have been a substitute teacher at Hogwarts." she said and with that, Sirius gave a barking laughter.

"You too? I actually wasn't all that surprised to find Moony as a teacher but-" he didn't finish the sentence as he was overcome by another fit of laughter.

"Hey!" Natalie nudged him. "What' so funny?"

"Two of the infamous Marauders…_teachers_." Sirius laughed and Natalie grinned.

"Yeah, it's kind of…ironic. But no more than that we were Aurors." she pointed out.

"Right. So, how are things between you and Moony?"

"Now good again." Natalie said before she could stop herself. She really didn't want to talk about her and Remus' fight and even less about the subject of their fight, but now it was too late to take things back.

Indeed, Sirius wondered. "Again?"

"Yes." Natalie said reluctantly "Six years ago we had a massive fight and haven't talked for five years."

"Whoa. You two? Not talking for five years? I wouldn't have thought it possible. I actually expected you to…uhm, never mind." he said quickly and Natalie looked at him in puzzlement.

"You expected what?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing. Just forget it." Sirius said and Natalie didn't push it "What was your fight about?" he asked then and Natalie frowned.

"I would rather not talk about it." she said awkwardly.

"I'm sorry." Sirius apologized and then he ran his hand over his eyes tiredly.

"You don't have to apologize. I think we should go to bed. I'll show you to your room, if you want." Natalie offered and got up.

"Sure." Sirius said and followed her upstairs. She led him to one of the guest room. On their way, Sirius was looking around the house. He had been here many times, even when they still had been going to Hogwarts. Every summer, they would meet at someone's place (except his, of course, seeing he had a family from hell, who would rather lynch his friends instead of accomodating them). But Natalie's grandparents, although Muggles, had allowed Natalie to invite her friends for two weeks, after their fifth year. After school, they also often had come here to hang out, along with Remus, James, Lily and Peter. Natalie didn't need to show him where the guest room was, but he followed her anyway.

"Here it is." she said when they stepped into a neat guest room. Sirius sat down on a bed and looked around the room, which was almost the same as Sirius remembered it, just as the rest of this place anyway.

"Thank you, Natalie. It means a lot, you know?" he said, not refering only to the room but everything else, her kindness not in the last place.

"It's the least I could do. If you need anything you know where to find me." she smiled at him but as she was about to leave, he caught her hand at once and Natalie turned abruptly to see what was the matter.

"Please stay." he pleaded and in his eyes there was something so urgent that Natalie couldn't tear her gaze from them. She couldn't even speak, she merely nodded and Sirius seemed to relax. He let go of her hand and she came over to the bed, which was big enough for both of them, and curled beside him. But although exhausted, she couldn't sleep. She just listened to the calm breathing of her friend, thinking about everything what had happened in last hours.

* * *

**Well, that would be it. I know, Sirius seems a bit bitter but what after twelve years in Azkaban, one in the Shrieking Shack and after meeting a bunch of the Dementors again and barely escaping - you can't really expect him to be happy-go-lucky at once. Well, what do you think?**


	5. As tears go by

**Oh, I'm so so quick. But I'm glad you like the story so far, it keeps me going. Anyway, I just hope you like a bit of sappiness, because there's going to be awfully lot of it in this chapter. Gah...But hey, you decided to read romance so there you go. I hope you like this.**

* * *

She didn't have any idea how long had she been lying there, restless, but when she turned her head and looked at Sirius' face, she found out his eyes were opened. She propped herself up on her elbow and he looked at her. Now, when the moonlight was mirroring in his grey eyes, he seemed more alive than before, the haunted look gone temporarily.

"I thought you were asleep." he said quietly.

"I thought you were." she answered and Sirius sighed.

"I was just thinking about everything what happened today." Sirius said.

"So was I." Natalie replied. She didn't know why, but they both were whispering. For a while neither of them spoke but then Natalie smiled, although a bit sadly.

"Remember when we were last just laying like this?" she asked and Sirius smiled back.

"It was after James and Lily's wedding reception…and we both were absolutely wasted." he added and Natalie's smile widened.

"We were, weren't we? It was actually Lily, who talked me into having a break in one of the bedrooms."

"And you just had to choose the one I was in." Sirius pointed out.

"But it was fun. I think you'd never been gossiping like that before. We talked for hours."

"Talked and drank." Sirius reminded her how he had smuggled in a bottle of Firewhisky.

"I don´t remember that." Natalie grinned.

"Because you passed out soon after."

"Well…I would believe that since the morning after was the worst one I can recall." Natalie said and Sirius chuckled.

"I don't know, I would think that the worst one was when we got drunk for the first time."

"That is truth but this one is following closely. But that morning in our fifth year surely tops that." Natalie smiled, reminiscing.

FLASHBACK

Fifteen-year-old Natalie just finished her essay for Transfiguration, put all her things into her bag and left the library. She looked at her watch. Remus and Peter's Divination lesson was due to end right about now and so she headed into their common room to meet them. But she didn't have any idea where James and Sirius were. They'd refused to go with her to the library and when she had asked what they were up to, they merely replied their motto: "_up to no good_". However, Natalie settled in their usual spot, the armchair near the fireplace, and pulled out her book. She hadn't been reading for long though, as soon the painting of Fat Lady opened and Remus Lupin and Peter Petigrew stepped into the common room, still talking about their lesson.

"Oi! Peter, Remus! Over here!" she called after them and waved at them.

"Hello, Nat." Remus smiled and sat down next to her, Peter taking the seat opposite of them.

"Hi you two. How was your lesson?" she asked.

"It was alright, still continuing with tea leaves." Remus said and Natalie rolled her eyes. She didn't take Divination lessons as she found it useless and Sirius and James' remarks only reassured her. "What about you?"

"I? I just finished my essay for Transfiguration and _also_ James' and Sirius' homework for Potions since they had been too busy in detention yesterday." she said with another roll of her eyes.

"Where are they anyway?" Remus asked.

"No idea." she answered but in that while, the painting opened once again and James and Sirius burst inside. They spotted them immediately and sprinted to where the trio was sitting.

"We hope you don't have any plans for today." James said excitedly.

"Becasue we've already figured what you'll be doing tonight." Sirius finished, in the same excited voice.

"And what would that be?" Remus asked cautiously and Natalie looked up curiously. To their surprise, no not surprise, _astonishment_, James slightly opened his robes and there they saw a hidden bottle of Firewhisky.

"Where did you get that?" Natalie asked in disbelief.

"Hogsmead, of course." Sirius said.

"Yeah, but how- you know what? I don't want to know." she said then.

"So? What do you say? Are we going to spend one hell of an evening tonight?" James asked. However, he was disappointed not to meet the reaction he had been expecting. Remus looked worried and Natalie was bitting her lower lip hesitantly. And Peter just waited for their reaction, although it was quite clear that in the end, he would join James and Sirius anyway.

"Come on, guys, it will be fun!" James encouraged them.

"I don't know, James. This- this is strictly against the school rules." Natalie said and both Sirius and James were gaping at her with opened mouths.

"Who are you and what did you do with Natalie?" James asked then, still not believing what he heard.

"Nat," Sirius said quietly and crouched down to Natalie, leaning against the armrest of her armchair "_everything_ we do is against school rules, or against the law even." he said quietly.

"I know but...what do you suggest? That we will wait till everyone falls asleep and get drunk here?" she asked also quietly.

"Now, that would be irresponsible." James answered in a scolding way "We will just sneak out of the castle and Wormtail here will open the way to the Shrieking Shack for us. No one will find us there and tomorrow is Saturday, we can sleep in."

"Come on, Swanny, no one will find out." Sirius chimed in "What about you, Moony, you're coming, aren't you?" he turned to Remus, who sighed.

"Someone must keep an eye on you lot." he said.

"Great! Wormtail, I'm not even asking, you're coming." James turned to Peter "Swanny?" he turned to his other friend and the only girl of their gang.

"I- I've never drunk before." she said shyly.

"Neither have we. You must start sometime. Come on, nothing will happen; we will just have a few sips of the drink, just try it and then go back." James said and finally, Natalie gave in.

Needless to say, they drank more than just _a few sips_. After an hour, they all were absolutely smashed, including the Gryffindor prefect Remus Lupin. At first, none of them liked the bitter taste of Firewhisky but soon they found out that although disgusting, the taste was sure addictive. And since none of them was used to drinking and the Firewhisky was indeed very strong for fifteen-year-old kids, they were drunk before they even knew it. Not that they didn't like the feeling of being drunk. Everything seemed so funny, although the room was spinning. Finally, they figured that it was time to get back. Until now, no one was sure how Wormtail even managed to push the knot on the Willow, but soon, they were slowly making their way across the school grounds to the castle. However, in they drunken state they didn't realize how much of ruckus they were making.

"Ow, Prongsie, it's m' foot you're standin' on." Natalie slurred and James quickly stepped away, tripping over Peter's foot in the process. "Now I can't walk." Natalie was sitting on the ground, pouting.

"Hop on, darlin'" Sirius said and took her on his back.

"Yay!" Natalie exclaimed loudly. However, Sirius was just as drunk as everyone else was and under Natalie's weigh he stumbled and lost footing. Suddenly, there was water everywhere around them. Natalie yelped while Sirius went straight under the water. They hadn't realized that they were near the lake. Natalie quickly slid off Sirius' back so he could straighten up again and accepted Remus' help, but ended up pulling him into the water as well. At the end, they all ended in the water at least once and it took them a nice while to get out.

When they finally made it to the castle, all sopping wet, they found out it was pitch dark everywhere and the only source of light were their wands. Surprisingly, it was Remus, who stumbled and fell right into one of the armours, causing such a ruckus that they helped him up and took off immediately. But they didn't make it even to the Fat Lady, when they literally ran into furious Professor McGonagall...

Natalie woke up when someone was shaking her. It was rather harsh, considering her headache, so she turned on another side and tried to pull her covers over her head. However, the strict voice woke her up quicker than a bucket of icy water.

"Miss Crane, wake up now!" the voice said and though the headache was getting worse, Natalie sat up straight, just to find out she was in the Hospital wing. Above her, Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey were standing. Natalie also saw the boys, one paler than the other. As serious as the situation was, Natalie couldn't help but notice the increasing feeling of nausea and she had to press her hand to her mouth. Madame Pomfrey was quick enough and briskly gave her a bucket. For half an hour, Natalie was puking her guts out.

"Minerva, just let me give her the potion." Madame Pomfrey said but Professor McGonagall shook her head.

"No, Poppy, we can wait until Miss Crane is well enough to talk." She said strictly but Natalie almost didn't hear her.

"You stay right were you are, Potter!" she barked when James made an attempt to go check up on Natalie himself "You aren't well yourself, just stay on your bed."

After another half an hour, Natalie's stomach finally settled altough it was sore from all the retching, along with her throat. Sirius, Remus, James and Peter seemed to be better as well.

"Professor-" Natalie began, her voice quivering, but Professor McGonagall cut her off.

"Don't say anything, Miss Crane, we won't be solving this problem here." she said sharply, and her thin lips, pressed together, were getting paler and paler. "Now, if you all just follow me." she said and headed out, the Marauders following her reluctantly. At first, Natalie thought they were going to McGonagall's office, but she was surprised when they turned to another hall and her heart clenched with sudden fear when she realized they were heading to Dumbledore's office. Suddenly, she had tears in her eyes but she was determined not to let them fall. She turned her head away and wiped them with her shaking hand. She thought she was inconspicious, however she was surprised when she felt someone squeeze her hand, and by a sidelong glance she found out it was Remus. He, too, was looking scared.

When they arrived to Dumbledore's office, he said them to sit down and they all did as they were told. Then Dumbledore pulled out his wand and by a flick, he conjured up five buckets in front of them.

"Just for sure, I have some very important parchments here." he said then, his eyes slightly twinking.

"Professor McGonagall informed me about your yesterday's…night out, I dare say." he said and Natalie was trying to find any hint of anger or other emotion in his voice. "I think it's needless to say that this is in conflict with the school rules and I'm very disappointed, especially in you as a prefect, Mr. Lupin. Your action was so irresponsible that I should be considering your expulsion from Hogwarts." he said and Natalie closed her eyes in terror. Not that she had been expecting anything else "However," Professor Dumbledore added and Natalie looked up. "This makes me look back at my young days, as far as they are, especially at one incident with a bottle of rum and an office of my Divination teacher." he said and Natalie raised her eyebrows in astonishment. "And I see I would be an old hypocrite if I expelled you today." he said and they all breated out a sigh of relief.

"You all will be getting a month of detention and I'm also forced to write about this to your parents" he said and they all nodded, some of them relieved, like Sirius (who didn't give a damn about his family), some of them horrified; although glad they hadn't been expelled.

"You are free to go. Professor McGonagall will specify the details of your detention."

"Thank you, sir." they all mumbled and shuffled out of their Headmaster's office.

END OF FLASHBACK

"This was one of the worst times in Hogwarts I've ever had." Natalie chuckled, although at that time, she hadn't been laughing at all.

"Yeah, McGonagall deliberately let us all puke our guts out, as I recall."

"Puke your guts out? It was _me,_ who was puking for an hour." Natalie corrected him.

"You weren't the only one; you just woke up later than us."

"You want to say that McGonagall woke me up later than you." Natalie pointed out.

"Pretty bad feeling, wasn't it?" Sirius said with amusement.

"Scary." Natalie chimed in. They both chuckled and for a while, they were both quiet, both lost in their own thoughts.

"Nat, can I ask you something?" Sirius asked suddenly, in the same quiet voice as before, but nevertheless, Natalie almost jumped. She was beginning to think that he had fallen asleep.

"Yes?" she whispered.

"Why…" he hesitated "why do you live here alone?" he said finally and Natalie raised her eyebrows.

"I told you I'm not alone. I have my pets." she tried to pass it with joke but unsucessfully.

"That's not what I ment. Let me rephrase it: why don't you have anyone?" he asked and Natalie sighed, rolling on her back and looked away.

"It's hard to say. I don't suppose you'd understand."

"Try me." Sirius said and Natalie bit her lip.

"It's not that I didn't try to…date." she said and frowned. It definitely hadn't been a part of her plans to talk about it right now. "But none of the relationships worked out. And I figured out that maybe I'm just better alone." She said as less as she possibly could. But she didn't expect Sirius' next words. Gently, he turned her head back to him to look into her eyes.

"Is that all?" he asked and the dread in her eyes gave him an answer before she spoke.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" she asked then, tears in her eyes.

"Of course I want." he said, but he was dreading her answer. If someone had hurt her, he would…

"It was because I screwed up all my relationships." She said.

"What? Why?" he frowned in confusion.

"Because…" she hesitated. Should she say it? She had waited seventeen years to tell him, should she tell him now? "Because all the men I was dating… I was still comparing them to you. I think that the whole time I didn't give up the hope that I would see you again." There, she said it but immediately, scolded herself. She shouldn't have said it, hadn't she decided not to pour out her heart to him? What if she blew it?

"Nat…" Sirius hesitated as well "Blossom, I-" she cut him off by putting her fingers over his lips again, altough more tears were streaming dow her cheeks when she heard his own nickname for her. She hadn't heard it in thirteen years either.

"Please, don't say it." she said but he gently took her hand from his mouth, kissing it in the process.

"I have to say something. Don't you see? I should have told you seventeen years ago. And one of the worst memories which haunted me in Azkaban was the memory that I had never told you about my feelings." He whispered, and urgent tone in his voice. "One of the worst realizations, that maybe everything would have been different. And one of my worst nightmares, that you live happily in arms of someone else, possibly Moony."

"What?" Natalie asked in shock.

"Yes. Did you know that one of the worst feelings is jealousy? It's eating you away even more than anger, especially jealousy of your best friend."

"Sirius, Moony and I are just friends, and we could never be anything else because we are like brother and sister. You know that." she pointed out.

"I do know it now. But it seemed different in that dark cell. Even worse, that I knew I had had so many chances to tell you but I hadn't."

Natalie was now crying even more and while talking, Sirius was wiping her tears with his thumb.

"I- I knew it. Although you didn't tell me, I knew it." she sniffed.

"Yeah. But it wasn't enough, was it?"

"No. But Sirius, listen to me. You waited thirteen years. I waited thirteen years. But I think that now isn't the best of the times. We don't even know each other anymore. We should stay friends for some time." she said sadly and Sirius sighed. "Please, say something." she pleaded and Sirius took hold of her hand again.

"Alright. If you really want it, we will wait for some time." he finally said and wiped the last of her tears away and Natalie smiled softly.

"Thank you." she said and then leaned into him slightly. For a brief second Sirius thought, she suddenly decided to throw this talk out of the window and kiss him. Frankly, Natalie was tempted to do just that, but instead, she just gave him a feather kiss on his cheek. "Good night." she whispered then and curled next to him. Almost immediately, she fell asleep but she still could hear Sirius whisper…

"Good night, Blossom." he said, pressed a kiss into her hair and lay his head next to hers.

* * *

**The end for today. Hope you're not disappointed they didn't hit it off right away. After all, would you hit it off with someone the first night you see them after thirteen years? Alright, so maybe I would if it was Sirius Black but Natalie is much more sensible than I am:)**


	6. My obsession

**Hey, guys! Another one's up. I can't keep myself from writing recently, although I really should study for my finals...well, whatever, this is more fun. This one is shorter though, I'm rather exhausted from all those exams.**

**NOTE: For those who didn't read the Fantastic Beasts from JKR; Occamy is an animal with a serpentine body, two legs and wings, which can grow into the length of fifteen feet and apparently is quite agressive and dangerous. On the other hand, a Tebo is a kind of a warthog, only it can make itself invisible and is very dangerous. Aethonan is a winged horse.**

* * *

FLASHBACK

Sixteen-year-old Sirius Black sighed, bored beyond reason, and took another cauldron from a nearby pile. His fingers and hands were covered by filth and a badly stinking cleanser. And the worst of all, the pile of dirty cauldrons didn't seem to decrease. Next to him, Natalie wasn't doing any better. This time, it was just the two of them in detention because of an incident in a Potions lesson. Incident, which, Sirius had to admit himself, was mostly his fault…

That Potions lesson, Professor Slughorn had decided to split the famous duo Potter/Black because during that particular lesson, they just couldn't stop disturbing. So James had ended up working with Lily Evans (much to his happiness and her dismay), and Sirius had been assigned to work with Natalie. Being the best students in Hogwarts, Sirius and Natalie had the potion done in almost no time and naturally, young Mr. Black had been soon bored. Therefore, he had tried to amuse his friend by throwing pieces of orange slugs at Snape's head. Sirius had also been encouraged by James' snigger from the back of the classroom. When Professor Slughorn had noticed Sirius and Natalie's amusement he had reprimanded them. But did Sirius ever listen? However, as much as his aims had been precise, when he had thrown especially big part of slug's head at Snape, he accidentaly hadn't hit his blasted schoolmate but his cauldron. As soon as the slug hit the potion in Snape's cauldron, the potion detonated. Not only had Snape recieved a full splash of his own potion and nasty blisters had appeared on his face, but the remains of the potion had been emitting smoke smelling after rotten eggs, which had soon veiled the whole classroom. When the class had gathered in the hall in front of the potion classroom, furious Professor Slughorn headed immediately to Sirius and Natalie. He was rarely angry but this time they hadn't escape a few nice minutes of his shouting.

"A week of detention, both of you." Slughorn finally huffed and while Natalie just nodded her head, Sirius had suddenly been overcome by a wave of gentlemanhood.

"Come on, Professor. It was me who threw that snail into Snape's cauldron. You can give me as long detention as you want but _she,_" he gestured to Natalie "didn't do anything."

"Mr. Black, from the point I see it, you both have a share of responsibility on this. After all, it was Miss Crane's slugs, you were throwing. The detention is for both of you." he said and although finality was sounding from his voice, Sirius hadn't given up and a smirk appeared on his face.

"Let's make a deal, Professor. Two more weeks of detention for me if she goes without punishment." he said and Natalie couln't believe her ears.

She nudged him sharply into his ribs "Have you lost your mind?" she hissed but Padfood ignored her. Instead, he was waiting for Slughorn's answer. However, he had been disappointed.

"You're not in the marketplace here, Mr. Black. I said it's detention for you _and_ Miss Crane and my word is final. If you really want to be Miss Crane's knight in a shining armour, you'd better find a solid pair of gloves for her because starting today, you two are cleaning cauldrons _without_ magic." he said and then left to Hospital Wing to check on Snape…

Sirius threw another cleaned cauldron on the pile and sighed again.

"If it makes you feel any better, it _was_ fun." Natalie spoke for the first time from the beginning of their detention. Not because she was angry with him but because she was concentrating on her work.

"It was, wasn't it?" Sirius grinned at her.

"Yeah." she grinned back "so, do you have some fun for now? This work is hell." she complained.

"Let's see." Sirius said thoughtfully "how about playing a game?" he suggested and Natalie shrugged. "Twenty questions?" Sirius asked and Natalie smiled.

"Why would we play Twenty questions? We know everything about each other."

"No, we don't." Sirius contradicted.

"Yes, we do." Natalie chuckled. Sometimes, Sirius could be very childish.

"No, we don't. Alright, Miss Know-it-all, when was the first time I snogged a girl?" he asked smugly and Natalie's eyes went wide.

"I- I-" she stummered, completly taken off guard and Sirius' smirk grew wider.

"Don't know?" he offered.

"Eleven?" she tried and he mockingly put his hand over his heart.

"Eleven? What kind of child do you think I was?" he said jokingly and although Natalie was used to joke with him, now she wasn't sure how to respond or even if she should respond at all "I was twelve but nice try." Sirius said then "See? We _have_ to play Twenty questions."

"What? No, I'm not answering questions like that." Natalie shook her head vehemently.

"Why not? I answered it, although you hadn't even asked. Come on, it will be fun." he kept persuading her while he poured more cleanser into the cauldron he was just cleaning.

"Uh…alright!" Natalie whined and Sirius smiled triumphantly.

"I knew you would give in eventually. Alright, I start." he said quickly.

"Easy on me, please." Natalie said, now jokingly, resignet to whatever would come.

"Always." he winked at her and Natalie felt her knees go weak. Before, she had always wondered how had he done it, that all girls were practically lying at his feet, and now she was almost embarrased to realize, she was becoming one of them "So, first question: I know you're name is actually Natalie _J_. Crane. What does the J. stand for?" he asked and Natalie bit her lip.

"No one actually knows that except for my grandparents. Why should I tell you?" she smiled coyly.

"Well, first of all, because you agreed to play, but…why not? What's the big deal with the name? Is it funny?" he asked, smile tugging at his lips.

"No, it's not."

"Naughty?" he suggested then, teasing her.

"Hey! What kind of people do you think my parents were?" Natalie punched him into his shoulder "No, it's nothing like this, although it actually doesn't suit me at all… but it's just one thing about that no one knows."

"Then I'll be the only one who knows. Come on, tell me. I won't tell anyone." he urged and Natalie sighed.

"Alright." she said reluctantly "It's Jasmine." she said and Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"Jasmine?"

"Yeah. My mother gave it to me, it was her favourite flowers. At least my grandma says so. She says that she loved how beautiful those white blossoms are and…sorry, I'm rambling." Natalie said quickly

"What? No, not at all. Jasmine…" Sirius pondered it for a while "I like it. Wait a minute." he said and wiped his hands into a washcloth. Natalie was curious what was he up to but her jaw almost dropped when he conjured up a twig of jasmine from thin air "Here you are, Blossom." he said and Natalie took the twig carefully.

"Blossom? What happened to Swanny?" she asked curiously and he snorted.

"Everyone calls you Swanny, this one's going to be just mine." he said and Natalie felt herself blushing. For a while, a slightly awkward silence settled in the room but then Sirius decided to break it.

"Alright so-" he was, however, cut off by the sound of opening door and when they looked up, they saw Professor Slughorn.

"You've been here two hours already. You're free to go for today. Tomorrow at the same time?" he asked, although they knew he wouldn't take no as an answer, so they just nodded, quickly took their things and left. Natalie was actually glad she didn't have to answer any more questions but Sirius beat her to it.

"Tomorrow we're continuing in our game." he said in their common room before they parted and headed into their bedrooms.

END OF FLASHBACK

In the middle of the night, Natalie was suddenly woken up by a muffled scream and she sat up straight. It took her a while to recognize her surroundings in the darkness and then realize where the shout was coming from. But when she looked at Sirius' sleeping form next to her she immediately got everything. He was tossing and screaming, obviously having a dreadful nightmare.

"Sirius? Sirius, wake up" she whispered as comfortingly as she could and shook him slightly. He just furrowed his eyebrows but didn't stop tossing. "Padfood, wake up." Natalie said louder and shook him hardly. This time the effect came immediately and Sirius bolted up, convienently right into her arms. For a while, he was just looking around in confusion until his eyes focused on her.

"Nat…I'm sorry I-" he stummered sleepily, still seeming a bit out of it.

"Bad dream?" Natalie asked soothingly, rubbing his shoulder. Sirius nodded, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "You want to talk about it?" Natalie offered then but she got a little concerned when Sirius didn't respond. Instead, he stared at the floor with clouded eyes.

"It's still the same." he mumbled then, when Natalie wasn't expecting an answer anymore.

"That nightmare?" she asked and Sirius nodded.

"I've had it since the first day they brought me into Azkaban. When I escaped, those other nightmares vanished or haven't been as frequent but this one…" his voice trailed off.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Not really, you shouldn't know about these things. It's about the night when I found James and Lily…" he didn't finish his sentence.

"Oh, Sirius." Natalie said sadly and hugged him. Sure, she should have realized that this would be his worst memory. What could be worse than finding your friends dead? "You should have told me sooner." she said when she pulled away slightly. "I would have made you some Dreamless potion." Sirius didn't respond at this.

"You know, you really should get some more sleep. I'll be watching out for you and wake you if I see you have a nightmare, I promise." she added when she saw Sirius was about to protest.

Sirius gave her a grateful look. "You are amazing, you know that?" he said and lay down.

"Give me your hand." Natalie told him with a light smile and took a hold of his hand "I'll be right here." she promised and watched him drift into a deep sleep.

If someone told that Natalie would get bored of watching Sirius sleep, he would be very mistaken. She watched out for him until 10 a.m until he woke up by himself. At least she had time for herself to think and to recall their talk from the last night again. When he stirred and cracked his eyes open, she gave him a smile

"Good morning." she said cheerily. So cheerily that had someone woken her up in that manner after a long night, she would have whacked them with the closest thing. It was known, that she wasn't a morning person.

"Mornin'." he said, his mind and tongue still clouded with sleep. "What time is it?"

"Ten a.m." she said, in the same cheerful voice. "I thought you could use some extra sleep."

"And you've been sitting here the whole time?" he asked in disbelief.

"Of course I have. I promised." she said in a 'duh' tone.

"Thank you." he said and this time it was him who gave her an one-armed hug. Natalie just chuckled; truthfully, she didn't know this soft and fragile side of him.

"Come on. Let's have some breakfast." she said, hooked her arm into his and led him out of the room. While Natalie headed to the kitchen, Sirius went to the bathroom as first. But when Natalie entered her kitchen, she gasped and stopped in her doorway and instinctively reached for her wand when she saw that at her table there was sitting a man. But with the second look, she recognized Remus Lupin.

"Moony!" she said and came over to him to give him a short welcome hug. "What are you doing here; I thought that school-year ends a few days later?"

"It does." he said and Natalie didn't miss the grim tone in his voice so she half-expected what came next "I've ended."

"What? Why?" she asked and sat down to the table next to him.

"Why? Do you know what happened yesterday?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Well…yes. But I thought that no one was hurt" she wondered.

„That's correct. However," Remus added when he saw Natalie taking a breath to say something "this morning, Snape let it conveniently slip that I'm a werewolf." He said bitterly.

"I should have let him bang his head at the tunnel ceiling much harder." a voice from the doorway said and both Remus and Natalie looked up.

"Padfood?" Remus said with a hint of surprise in his voice when he saw his friend's appearance.

"Lookin' good, huh?" Sirius said with a smug smile, already much more resembling his old self even in behaviour. Natalie just snorted and got up from the table to make some coffee.

"Want some help?" Sirius asked her.

"Merlin no!" Natalie exclaimed, not really keen on the idea of her kitchen being in flames. This time it was Remus' turn to snort with amusement and Sirius gave her mock-offended glare.

"I just have you know that I always was the best cook you could have found." he said.

"When?" Natalie shot back briskly, making Remus snigger.

"Your loss, I wanted to help." Sirius shrugged nonchalantly and Natalie looked up from the toasts she was making.

"You wanted to help?" she asked with a twinkle in her eyes "Alright, Mr. Padfood, if you really want to help then listen to me." she said and Sirius wasn't sure he liked her tone. "go to the pantry where you find a big bucket of meat. You don't want to know what it is but you take it _and_ your wand and go to the garden. There you find sixth and seventh cage, they're next to the cage with owls and you throw the meat into these two cages and also give some to Buckbeak."

"That's it?" Sirius arched one eyebrow, still suspicious of her tone.

"That's it. And be sure to take your wand." she said again and in that time Remus spoke up.

"Natalie, are you sure it's a good idea for Sirius to go outside?" he asked her carefully.

"Yeah, sure, it's safe. I have cast there every security spell you can think of, because of the animals. And there's a very high hedge, no one will see you." She said to Sirius who shrugged.

"Alright, sounds easy." he said and went to the pantry and in a while, he made his way out with a big bucket of meat and wand in his hand, although he didn't know why should he take his wand to go feed animals.

"And make sure you close the door of the cages properly." she called after him.

"So…you feel comfortable with him feeding the Occamy?" Remus asked and this time it was Natalie's turn to shrug.

"He'll be fine. I do it every day. But I'm really thinking of giving the Occamy away. It's too much meat to buy. Do you think Hagrid would want it?" she asked and Remus shrugged.

"I'm sure he would." he said "Oh, no thank you, I've already had breakfast." he said then when Natalie set a cup of coffee and a plate of toasts in front of him.

"Just take it, Remus, you look like hell." she said in no-nonsense tone and Remus didn't dare to contradict, so he just took a sip of a hot coffee, which by the way tasted deliciously. In that while, Sirius came back, leaning against the doorway to the garden.

"May I ask you why I should throw meat into an empty cage?" he asked and Natalie smiled. Not even Remus knew what the second animal Sirius was supposed to feed was.

"It's not empty." she said simply.

"Yes, Natalie, it is empty." Sirius talked to her as if he was explaining something to a child.

"No, it's not. There's a Tebo." she said and Sirius was taken aback and Remus choked on his coffee.

"Tebo?" Sirius made sure he heard right.

"Yep." she smiled "You should see it, it's beautiful." she said dreamily, although there was a hint of teasing in her tone.

"I would really like to see it, indeed. Especially when I'm about to open its cage." Sirius grumbled and made his way back to the cages.

"Tebo, huh?" Remus asked when Sirius left.

"You know me, I'm crazy." Natalie shrugged.

"How did your reunion go yesterday?" Remus wondered.

"Good, really. He told me everything what happened. So, are you going to stay here for some time?" she asked sincerely, though she was glad to avoid the topic. She wasn't about to tell Remus everything she and Sirius had talked about.

"I don't know. Really wouldn't like to intrude." he said while looking into a copy of Daily Prophet and Natalie caught a hint of teasing in his voice but she decided to ignore it.

"You won't. Come on, Moony, stay for some time. We all have to catch up on things and then…you really don't look too good. Maybe you should go and get some rest upstairs." she suggested.

"Perhaps I will, thank you." he said, suddenly a little distractedly and Natalie was curious why.

"Something interessting?" she asked and came over behind him and read across his shoulder, slightly leaning against him. There she saw an article about Sirius' escape. She read it curiously but at the end, she found out that nothing special or unexpected was in there. Just a lot of accusations of the Ministry.

"Holy shit, Moony, did you know that she has an Aethonan?" Sirius" voice asked and they both looked up.

"You mean Reggie? Oh yeah, I met him." Remus smiled at his friend's astonishment and Sirius just shook his head and sat down to the table as well.

"Nat, are you crazy? You've got beasts in your garden." Sirius said incredulously and Natalie shrugged.

"It's alright if you know how to handle them."

"I'm surprised you don't have a unicorn there." Sirius shook his head again.

"I used to but I let it go" Natalie said, almost in a conversation-like voice "Toast?" she gave Sirius a sweet smile and held a piece of toast to him.

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed;)**


	7. Mother's little helper

**Well, Chapter 7 is up! Sorry, I wasn't able to update for a few days. Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad you like the story. Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this one**

* * *

"I think I should send Harry an owl." Sirius said suddenly. It was mid-afternoon and soft rain was falling outside, when Sirius and Natalie were in the kitchen enjoying a comfortable quiet. Remus had finally agreed to get some rest so Natalie had sent him into one of her guest rooms, which he usually used while visiting her. Sirius was sitting at the table, solving a crossword puzzle, his eyebrows knit with concentration, while Natalie was making an apple pie at Sirius' special request.

"It's a good idea. He should know that his efforts to save you were to no avail." Natalie said "On the desk in the living room, there's some parchment and quills." she added so Sirius abandoned his crossword puzzle and went for the parchment.

"How did Harry take the news that you're his Godfather?" Natalie asked suddenly and Sirius looked up from the letter.

"Took me by surprise, actually. He already knew." he said and didn't miss Natalie's slight frown. "What's the matter?" he asked and Natalie sighed.

"It's just…that I suppose he doesn't know about me. I've talked to him only once, and as his teacher, I couldn't tell him that I'm his Godmother. You've got a good reason for not being with him but I…" she trailed off. Sirius put away the quill, got up and came over to her while she continued "How can I tell him I wasn't with him because of stupid orders? That I left him live with those poor excuses of people because Dumbledore told me so?"

"Nat, he will understand-" Sirius said but Natalie cut him off.

"No, Sirius, he won't. He's just thirteen-year-old boy who has to live with his terrible Aunt and Uncle and a stupid cousin." she exclaimed and a few tears poured down her face. Though she was desperatedly trying to stay collected for Sirius' sake as he was in need of friend right now, she was quite losing it.

"Listen," Sirius said and put his arm around her shoulders "I know that we will meet him again and when we will, you can explain it to him. Harry will understand and he will be happy to have one more person who cares about him." he said and Natalie nodded.

"I think you're right." She sniffed and wiped her tears. Now she felt stupid in front of him. She had cried two times in two days in front of him; she sure made a great impression. "Thank you."

"Alright?" Sirius asked and she nodded, however, Sirius left his arm around her shoulders for a while longer before he let go of her and got back to his letter.

"You know what?" Natalie said with a sudden idea "When I was teaching in Hogwarts," at that words, the corners of Sirius' mouth twitched by suppressed laughter. "I found out that Harry wasn't allowed to visit Hogsmead because those stupid guardians of his hadn't signed his form. As his legal guardian you could allow it when." Natalie suggested.

"That's a brilliant idea!" Sirius exclaimed and took another scrap of parchment and began writing "That should do. Listen:" he said when he finished and read aloud what he had written.

"Sounds good." Natalie agreed "Alright, come on, let's find you an owl." she said and together they went to the garden, not minding the drizzling rain. Natalie led Sirius to the cages where she had five owls. With a slight surprise, Sirius noticed a cage which he hadn't noticed before. It was a cage with two big colourful tropical birds.

"What are these?" he asked, pointing at the birds, which were sitting calmly and proudly. Natalie just gave them a glance to see what Sirius was referring to.

"Oh these? Sometimes I use them instead of owls, especially when I need to send something too heavy for owls." She said unconcerned "Which one do you want?" she asked, pointing at the cage with five different owls.

"It doesn't matter." Sirius shrugged but then another cage caught his eye. It was a cage as big as the others were, but inside, there was just one owl, which was so small that it would fit into a palm. The owl was enthusiastically fluttering around its cage and squeaking. Natalie noticed what was Sirius watching, and she smiled.

"Or you could use this one." she suggested with amusement and Sirius arched his eyebrow.

"Is it reliable?" he asked with doubts.

"Reliable? Oh, sure, it is. I didn't trust it either, so once I've tried to send it to Remus to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, it came back." she said and Sirius gave her a look.

"Unfortunately?"

"Well, you see, it was some time back when those kids brought me an egg which they had found somewhere. They knew I was taking care of animals so they brought it and I took it. However I didn´t know what would hatch out of it. This little devil is the result. It is reliable and enthusiastic but sadly, that's the problem. It's so enthusiastic that I have to keep it in a separate cage as it annoys other owls and they would probably eat it."

"I see. So you hoped it might not find the way back?" he asked.

"Yeah. I know it's cruel but the other owls are going mad from all that squeaking and I can't take it inside, otherwise I would be going mad." she explained.

"What if I borrowed it for sending the letter to Harry and then got rid of it for you?" Sirius suggested and Natalie gasped.

"Are you crazy? It is annoying but you can't just kill it. No way, that is even crueler than hoping it would get lost! And since when do you hurt small cute owls?" she would go on forever if Sirius didn't stop her.

"Swanny? Swanny! I didn't mean I would kill it. I just thought that maybe Harry's friend would be keen on keeping it. It was him, who owned Peter, thinking it was just a rat." Sirius explained and Natalie gasped with recognition.

"Oh. Sorry. In that case I agree, let him keep it. If he wants it." she added then.

* * *

Next month, Sirius was feeling like he was in heaven. Not only because Natalie was doing every wish she saw in his eyes, but simply because it was _her_ he was with. In those twelve years he had been locked up in Azkaban he had had many memories of her but indeed, they had been the worst memories he had in his mind - memories of all of their fights - and also the made-up thoughts of her, living with someone else and sometimes even the images of her dying or being tortured. After some time he hadn't even been sure which of these had been made-up or which had happened for real. Even now, when he was with her again, those dreadful thoughts were still haunting him and frankly, she was the only thing which could chase them away.

Natalie was trying desperately to help him recover and she was doing great job. He finally gained some weight so now he didn't look like a skeleton and although a dark shadow covered his face if he was left to his thoughts for too long, a reminder of his usual spark returned into his eyes as well as his wits and habits.

Even Natalie was getting used to not living alone and frankly, it was as dificult for her as it was for Sirius. Although Natalie hadn't spent twelve horrible years in Azkaban in company of dementors, she was all alone for six years as well, used only to a company of her pets. Now, she had to get used to her house being a constant mixture of mess and ruckus. These two things had always been following Sirius on every step and not even a decade in prison changed that. Natalie, who had always been rather neat, was after a month finally getting used to it, although she was still cringing, when Sirius threw his feet onto her table or left crumbs of cookies on the couch. But despite that, she was happy to have him back and have someone to talk to. During that one month he was with her, they managed to get to know each other again and sometimes it seemed to Natalie that he had never been gone. If it hadn't been for that everpresent pang of sadness for her friends' death, she would have thought none of those horrible things had ever happened. When she and Sirius were reminiscing and laughing together, she felt as if he had just dropped by, to hang out for a second, and he would leave in a while saying he had to go to take his bike for a ride or that every moment now James, Lily, Remus and Peter would drop by as well.

However, as much fun as they had, during the last days a strange tension began to build between them. Neither of them had any doubts about the cause of this tension, it was the same one that had hung between them every time they looked into each other's eyes since they were sixteen-year-old. But having in mind the conversation they had had on the first night they reunited, both of them decided to ignore it, or at least try to ignore it. Strangely enough, without even talking about it again, they had found an odd compensation – bantering. When Remus dropped by, they were driving him into insanity with they endless teasing and jokes, although the perceptive werewolf could see right through it.

Remus himself would show at Natalie's place at least once a week, sometimes staying for a few days even. Natalie was more than happy to let him stay for as long as he liked as she was a bit concerned about his well-being, but the fact that he was actually _able_ to stay for several days straight without having to work was making her worried even more. It showed that he indeed didn't have any work to attend, otherwise he wouldn't have taken so many days off in order to save them for full-moons. But knowing her friend well enough to know that he didn't like when she fussed over him, she kept quiet, not wanting to make him feel unwelcome.

It was another rainy afternoon and neither Sirius nor Natalie wanted to go out into the garden, where they would be every other time after lunch. Instead, they were in the kitchen. Natalie was carefully making a birthday cake for Harry, whose birthday was approaching quickly. Baking was her speciality (her grandmother had taught her) and she was determined to make the best cake Harry had ever got. In the meantime, Sirius was sitting at the table, tilting his chair on its back legs just like he had done at school, engrossed in a copy of Daily Prophet.

"Listen to this: A Ministry worker missing." he read aloud and Natalie looked up with surprise.

"Who's missing?" she asked Sirius, who was still absorbed in the article.

"Bertha Jorkins. She went for a vacation to Albania and no one has heard of her since." Sirius summarized the article.

"Isn't she that seventh year girl with strong glasses who overheard us talking about Marauder's Map?" Natalie squinted with concentration as she was trying to remember.

"Yeah, that's her. She's working in Magical Games and Sport but they say Ludo Bagman's really reluctant to send someone after her." Sirius said, still not taking his eyes from the article.

"Hmm…Albania? I think it's quite suspicius." Natalie mused.

"It sure is. But right now, with the on-coming Quidditch World Cup the Ministry has other things to tend to." Sirius snorted and closed the newspaper and threw it on the table. Natalie knew he was fond of Quidditch as well, very fond of actually. In Hogwarts, he used to play in Griffindor Quidditch team as a Beater and while everyone had been praising James as the best Seeker the Griffindor team had ever had, Sirius had been playing nearly as well. One year after school, their whole gang had even gone to see Quidditch World Cup to Germany. Not that Natalie was that interested in Quidditch herself, but she had known that going with the guys to Germany would be so much fun and what's more, James'd even talked Lily into going as well. On the World Cup, Sirius had been having a time of his life but now, even he admitted that there were more important things than Quidditch and disappearing of the Ministry worker in the country known as the place where Voldemort had been seen last was definitely one of them.

Sirius got up from the table and came over to the counter where Natalie was making the cake and watched her with interest.

"Whoa, this looks good." he said when he saw the progress. He was almost beginning to envy his Godson this cake but he knew he could easily talk Natalie into making one just for him. Concerning food, he could be wicked.

"Thanks." Natalie beamed at him and went to fetch some supplies into the pantry, leaving a bowl of freshly made chocolate cream on the counter.

_How conven__ient!_ Sirius thought with a grin and with a quick glance in the direction of the pantry, he dipped his finger into the bowl and tried what his Godson would eat for his birthday. Indeed, it was delicious and without thinking, Sirius took another round of the cream. He repeated this several times, so he didn't even hear the approaching footsteps from the pantry and it took him by surprise when a hand suddenly spanked his own.

"Hey!" Natalie exclaimed "This is not for you! Surprisingly, _some_ food in here isn't for you. This is for Harry so back off." she said and snatched the bowl from his hands.

"I just wanted to try what Harry will be having." Sirius defended himself with an expression of five-year-old boy and Natalie, although rolling her eyes, had to suppress a smile; she was supposed to be mad at him.

"Try? You've eaten half of the bowl. Now I'll have to make new." Natalie said as angrily as she could but Sirius saw right trough her.

"Really now? So you won't mind if I take this one." he said with a childish grin and snatched the bowl back.

"Hey! Give it back, you thief!" Natalie exclaimed and tried to get the bowl back but Sirius was quicker and jumped backwards. But Natalie wasn't one to give up easily and in a while, she was furiously chasing Sirius around her kitchen, not even caring that they were knocking down everything what came into their way. After some time of Natalie's unsuccessful attempts to catch her friend, she somehow jumped across the sofa, tripped Sirius' feet and sent him down, but fell down herself in the process so they ended up in a heap on the floor.

"Gotcha" Natalie grinned triumphantly and a twinkle appeared in Sirius' eyes.

"You've got cream on yourself." Sirius responded and when Natalie looked down at her robes, she figured that he had been right. In their fall she somehow, in some very strange way, managed to get the subject of their fight spilt all over herself, some of it had even smudged over her face. Amazingly enough, despite the fact that she and Sirius had ended up in one pile, he got off untouched.

"Blimey, I do!" Natalie gasped but right then, they both fell into a fit of laughter. Really, they both were like two lunatics, lying on the floor, laughing. When Natalie got short of breath again, she just fell on her back next to Sirius, breathing heavily. Sirius, who was lying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows, stopped laughing as well. All laughter died down when he looked into Natalie's eyes. She was lying next to him, looking absolutely adorable with disheveled hair and a smear of the cream on her cheek. Natalie, too, was sensing the all-so-familiar tension between them, but now she wasn't that sure she wanted to care about the whole friends-deal between them.

Sirius seemed to forget it altogether. Suddenly, without either of them noticing it, their faces were getting closer and closer and their eyes were locked. When Sirius' face was mere inches from hers, Natalie closed her eyes, anticipating the long craved feeling of his lips. Just as Sirius was about to close the tiny gap between them, a loud crash typical for Apparating echoed from the kitchen and the sound had an immediate result on Sirius and Natalie. They flew apart like shrapnel.

"Nat! Padfoot!" they heard Remus' voice from the kitchen.

"We're here!" Natalie called and she and Sirius quickly got up and in a second, Remus appeared in the doorway with a wand in hand and Natalie realized what he must have thought when he saw the disarray in the kitchen. When he saw nothing except furniture and Natalie's robes was out of order he put the wand back into his cloak.

"What for Merlin's sake happened in here?" He asked when he took in the look of his friends and surrounding. Natalie was covered in chocolate cream, Sirius' hair was tousled and kitchen and sitting room were a disaster.

"Well…" Natalie said, still in a slight shock, both from the scare and the fact that she and Sirius were… when she just thought about it her heart skipped a beat and she totally forgot what she wanted to say "You know…we…I was making a birthday cake for Harry." she stammered finally, although the statement wasn't making any sense at all. Remus raised one eyebrow at that.

"And that explains all of this how?" he asked, spreading his arms and looking around. "It looks like a hurricain has swept across here."

Natalie finally recovered from the shock of almost being caught and patted Sirius on his back "And said hurricain will now help me clean all of this." she gave Sirius a wry grin "But at first, I have to go to get changed so if you excuse me…" she said and went past Sirius into her room. _Damn_! She thougth on her way. She totally forgot that she had invited their werewolf friend for a supper.

When Natalie returned, fresh clothes on, it took them almost an hour to get her house into its normal state. For the whole time, Natalie and Sirius were sneaking glances at each other, occasionally catching each other's eyes. Natalie still couldn't believe what had almost happened between them. Sure, there was always some tension between them, however she had not expected something so spontaneous. It wasn't in her plans! They were supposed to stay friends, they had agreed on it and here they were, almost kissing! Although…Nat had to admit that as much as her mind was screaming a very resolute NO, her heart was telling her otherwise.

After they got the kitchen cleaned again, Natalie finally finished the cake for Harry and it was actually the right time to send it so it would get to him in time. Sirius even talked her into borrowing him one of the colourful birds to deliver the cake to their Godson instead of owls; although he didn't have to make much effort to talk her into it.

Soon after this, it was 31 July and in the evening, while Sirius and Natalie were sitting in the sitting room, drinking tea, they had remembered the events that had happened fourteen years ago.

FLASHBACK

It was 31st of the July 1980 and this year the summer was especially rainy. Even this day, the heavy rain was pouring from leaden clouds, making puddles on the streets grow increasingly. But two young women, almost girls yet, didn't seem to mind at all. They were sitting in a spacious, warm-looking kitchen, drinking tea. They were just having another fit of laughter.

"No. No way, Natalie, am I naming my baby Cleophaestus." the readhead girl said when she stopped laughing and distractedly rubbed her big belly.

"What? Why not? It would be cute to call him Cleo." young Natalie joked.

"It's cute for a guinea-pig, not for a child."

"Alright, you're right." Natalie grinned, turned her attention back to the name book and browsed through it.

"You´re doing an usless work." Lily Potter rolled her eyes. "James wants to name the baby after himself." she said, obviously disgruntled about her husband's stubborness.

"What if it's a girl?" Natalie wondered and Lily gave her a pointed look.

"He wants to give this baby his name either way. If it's a girl he wants to call her Jamie." Lily said and Natalie couldn't help but burst out laughing again. This was so like James.

"Sorry! I'm sorry." Natalie said quickly when she calmed down and wiped the tears out of her eyes "Did you- Did you try to talk to him about it?"

"Well, not yet." Lily admitted and when Natalie gave her an incredulous look, she explained further. "Everytime I just mention the baby, he goes rambling about how we will decorate his or her room and how 'James' will be great at Quidditch and how he will teach him flying and so on and I just…don't have the heart to interrupt him, you know?" she looked at her friend and Natlaie sighed.

"Lily, just talk to him. Although…I don't think that James is a bad name, it _is_ a nice name - just imagine he would be really called _Cleophaestus_ - but if you don't agree with him, just tell him. He loves you, he will understand." Natalie encouraged her friend. Just when Lily wanted to answer, a loud knock echoed from the front door.

"I'll get it." Natalie offered and made her way through the Potter's house to the front door. "Who is it?" she asked before she opened.

"It's me, Remus." a voice of her friend echoed but Natalie still made no move to open. Being trained by no one other than Mad-Eye Moody himself, she knew well to be cautious. _Constant vigilance_ she repeated in her mind.

"Prove yourself!" she ordered him.

"Once in the fourth year I got a detention because I was disturbing too much during Transfiguration. However, I wasn't disturbing, I was delirious because Sirius had placed a Billywig sting onto my seat." Remus said and instead of response, he heard the sound of unlocking door.

"Hi, Moony!" Natalie smiled and hugged her dear friend.

"Hi, Swanny. How's everything?" he asked.

"Good. We're just having a chat with Lily until James comes back."

"I see. When are those two due to come back? I really would fancy seeing them." Remus said, referring to James and Sirius, who were on a mission for Dumbledore. Natalie was having a day off, thus she could stay with Lily. Remus, who had not been seen for a few days because of the full moon, was glad to see his friends.

"They're supposed to come in the evening or early night." Natalie said. Remus had just taken off his cloak and hung it on the coat-rack when a loud gasp and a sound of shattering glass echoed from the kitchen. Natalie and Remus just changed quick glance before they dashed to the kitchen. As soon as they stormed into kitchen, they saw Lily, leaning against the kitchen counter, clutching her stomach and panting heavily. Both of them immediately rushed to her.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Natalie asked and touched her friend's arm; Remus joined her from the other side.

"I- I think it's time." Lily managed to say through clenched teeth.

"Oh, bollocks!" Natalie gasped and covered her mouth in panic. Thank Merlin that Remus was there, because his nerves didn't fail him as much as Natalie's. But one can't think ill of her - she was just nineteen as she was the youngest of their gang.

"Alright, Nat, we need to get her to St. Mungo's and find James. You take her to hospital and I'll try to fetch him." he suggested but in that while, Natalie snapped back into reality, her Auror-mind kicking in.

"No." She said, getting hold of Lily's right arm and gesturing for Remus to do the same "No I think you should come with us, get her settled in so you'll know how much time you have to find James. Besides, he will want to know details as soon as possible." she said and Remus admitted it sounded reasonable. He helped her escort Lily to the living room to the fireplace and then threw a hand of Floo powder into the flames. It was decided that Natalie would go first, so she could wait for Lily on the other side and alarm the staff of St. Mungo's beforehand.

"Now, Lily, will you manage?" Remus asked his friend and she just nodded, not even able to talk. "Alright, let's go." he said and helped Lily into the fireplace.

"St. Mungo's!" Lily managed to say and then disappeared in green flames. On the other side Natalie helped Lily out of the fireplace and even before Remus appeared in the fireplace as well, a group of Healers was already taking care of Lily, conjuring up a stretcher, so they could levitate her into the appropriate room. Lupin and Nat were following them closely, not wanting to leave their friend. But the healers didn't allow going with her to her room for now, so they were anxiously waiting outside for some news.

Finally, the healers came out of Lily's room and one of them informed Nat and Remus, that it would still take a few hours for the baby to come out and that they could go in to see her.

"Moony, you go and find James, I'll stay with her." Natalie decided, although she was absolutely frightened. What if Remus wouldn't find James in time? She wasn't sure she was strong enough to stay with her friend through everything… Remus just nodded and was about to sprint away.

"And Remus?" she called out again and he stopped and turned around to see his friend with aboslutely panicked expression, though she was bravely trying to hide it. "Please hurry!" she pleaded. Remus just nodded and was off.

Natalie came into Lily's room and when she saw her friend's expression, she froze in the doorway. Lily was looking as bad as Natalie was feeling and that made Natalie feel absolutely guilty. She was here, thinking about how _she_ was feeling, while her friend was going through this ordeal alone. Immediately, she rushed to her friend's bedside and took her hand.

"How are you doing?" she asked her.

"Awful." Lily said, her voice shaking. "It hurts." she whimpered and Natalie squeezed her hand.

"It's going to be alright. I promise." she encouraged her but Lily frowned.

"The baby wasn't due for other two weeks." she said "We- we don't have the room finished and we don't even have the damn name!"

"Lily, you shouldn't worry about this, really. You should concentrate just on having this baby, and then you can worry about the nursery. Besides, you're a witch – you're going to have the room done in a matter of minutes." Natalie smiled but to her surprise, Lily sniffed.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. He- he should be here." she said, a few tears making their way down her cheeks.

"He will be." Natalie said confidently. "Remus will find him, you'll see. He'll be here before you know it."

"And what if he won't? What if James won't be here?"

"He will." Nat answered firmly "But if not, you don't think I'd leave you alone, do you?" she said and finally, Lily chuckled slightly and looked gratefully at her friend.

"Thank you." she said and then squeezed her hand as another contraction hit her.

_Oh, Remus please hurry_ Natalie thought.

In the meantime, Remus flooed first into Sirius' flat, thinking that if they had already finished their mission, they could stop at his place. However, he found no one at Sirius' place. He thought that they could drop by Peter' but then he remembered that he was visiting his mother. So next best shot was, of course, Dumbledore.

Remus flooed into Dumbledore's office and found the Headmaster sitting behind his desk. When he stepped out of the fireplace, the old wizard looked up.

"Young Mr. Lupin, how nice to see you. From your expression I assume something's the matter." he said and Remus nodded.

"Sir, I'm in need of finding James. Lily has just gone into labour." he said but the Headmaster didn't seem very surprised about that.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are on a mission for me but I expect them to be back within an hour." Dumbledore said "Maybe it would be best, Remus, if you waited for them here. Do you care for a cup of tea?" he asked the tired-looking werewolf, who just nodded and sat down.

The next hour was excruciating. Although he was talking to Dumbledore about various things, he just couldn't take his mind of Lily's well-being. Finally, when his anxiety seemed to be unbearable, the flames in the fireplace turned green and Sirius stepped out of them, soon followed by James. To say they were dishevelled was an understatement. They had apparently come through a fight. Their faces were smudged by dirt and smoke and their robes were torn on various places. A right sleeve of Sirius' robe was missing as well as James' shoe. They were also covered with cuts and scratches.

"Mission accomplished, sir." Sirius grinned, although the rather big cut on his forearm was still bleeding.

"I'm very glad to hear that, gentlemen but-"

"We too, it wasn't an easy task to get- Moony, what are you doing here?" James didn't finish his sentence when he noticed his other friend sitting on the chair, looking anxious.

"I'm looking for you." Remus said and sprang up from his seat. "Lily's gone to labour. She's at St. Mungo's." Remus didn't need to say anything more for James had already dashed back to the fireplace, flooing to St. Mungo. Sirius was just looking at the fireplace longingly, not knowing if he could leave or not.

"Just go, Sirius, you can inform me about it later." Dumbledore said with a slight smile and both Sirius and Remus ran to the fireplace as well. In St. Mungo's Sirius and Remus caught up with James, who was unsuccessfully trying to find out where his wife's room was.

"James, come on!" Moony said and dragged James behind him in direction of Lily's room.

In the meantime, Natalie was getting desperate. She was trying to calm Lily but it seemed to be impossible. Lily was in turns crying for James and screaming by pain and Natalie was getting short of ideas how to calm her friend. Just as Lily fell into another crying fit, the door to her room burst open and James stormed inside. He was dirty and Natalie didn't fail to notice that his shoe was missing, but she was glad to see him nonetheless. Immediately, she vacated the chair at Lily's bedside and let him sit down instead. Following him close, even Remus and Sirius came, the latter in similar state of James'.

"Lily, honey, it's alright. I'm here." James said when he saw his wife's tears and took her hand.

"James, I'm so glad you're here. I'm scared." she whimpered.

"Don't be, it will be alright." he said soothingly, although his friends knew that he was not only scared, but absolutely terrified, just like they were.

"How are you doing, Lily-kins?" Sirius, who had now also approached Lily's bed, asked. However, he didn't meet such a warm warm welcome as his friend had.

"Try to push water melon out of you and you'll know." she hissed at him and Sirius raised his hands in defensive gesture.

"Whoa! No need to get all snappy on _me_, right Prongs?" he said wryly and patted James on his back.

"Stuff it, Padfood." James said and continued to tend to his wife. Sirius, Natalie and Remus spent several long hours in Lily's room, trying to cheer her up, so she would forget her pain at least for a while, as well as cheer James up, so he would forget his fear; but then they were shooed out of the room. This was, however, even harder for them to bear - to hear their friend crying in pain - than be with her in her room. Sirius was the only one not showing his anxiety, although everyone knew he was just as nervous as everyone else, he was just better at hiding it. He was casually leaning against the wall, waiting patiently. Natalie was anxiously fidgetting on her seat, obviously unable to sit calmly for more than thirty seconds. She also got back to her habit to chew on her fingernails. Remus was nervously pacing the hallway, still looking at his watch or at the big clock on the wall. Every once in a while, they heard Lily's painful, ear-piercing scream, at which all of them cringed. After one especially terrifying shriek, at which Natalie plugged her ears, another high-pitched cry could be heard. Remus immediately stopped pacing and looked at the door with hope. Even Sirius straightened up and Natalie rose from her seat so quickly that she almost toppled the chair over. Remus, who still didn't take his look off of the door, came over behind Natalie and put his hands on her shoulders in order to calm her nerves. Sirius was just as on the edge as others and had enough of waiting, but right when he was about to voice his thoughts out loud, the door opened and two healers left the room, followed by their friend, who was grinning goofily although there weretears glistening on his cheeks.

"Well?" Sirius asked for all of them.

"There- There's someone for you to meet." James finally said, stuttering slightly, and gestured for them to go inside.

They followed him into the room, which was now very quiet, contrary to the ruckus just five minutes ago. Prongs sat down on the chair beside the bed again and proudly looked at his wife, who was holding a small bundle of blankets.

"Hi." Lily beamed at her friends, tiredly but there was no trace of worry or fear on her face anymore and her eyes were shining. "Everyone, meet our son, Harry James Potter." she said and Nat, Remus and Sirius came closer to her bed, almost bashfully.

"Harry, huh?" Natalie gave Lily a knowing smile, remembering their earlier talk and her friend nodded.

"Yeah, we thought that calling him James might be confusing." James answered for his wife.

"And here I was hoping you would name him after me." Sirius mock-pouted.

"That would be confusing as well, Padfoot." James remarked "However…" he said but then he paused and gave Lily a hesitant look. When Lily nodded at him to continue, he went on "We thought that you might be…honoured in another way." James said now completly serious, which wasn't usual for him. He got up and looked into his best friend's grey eyes. "We want you to be Harry's Godfather and legal guardian in case something happened to us." he said and for a while a dead silence settled in the room, even little Harry (as if knowing that the matter was concerning him) didn't make a sound.

"M-me? Are you…really?" Sirius stuttered, completly taken aback.

"Yes, Padfoot, really. It might look like we have lost our minds but…you're like my brother, who else should get Harry if not you? So, do you accept?" James asked him and Sirius (who was still absolutely stunned) now looked at Lily, as if to make sure she was alright with it as well. She smiled brightly at him and nodded and Sirius turned his attention back to James.

"It will be my honour, Prongs." he said, without any hint of his trademark sarcasm or jokes. It was obvious how much this ment to him, for he had almost tears in his eyes.

Hearing this, James grinned, as well as Lily.

"We're glad to hear it, Sirius. Well, would you like to hold your Godson?" Lily said and Sirius nodded wordlessly, although a little hesitantly. He had no experience with children, let alone babies. Very, very carefully, almost as if he was scared he would break him, he took Harry from Lily's arms. For a while, he was looking at him, with Natalie and Remus looking over his shoulder, and took in the appearence of his Godson - from the tuft of already jet black hair to the shape of his face - and then he grinned.

"Whoa, you already look like your old man, Pronglet." he said, making everyone chuckle and James looke very proud.

"Now," Lily suddenly spoke up "the _Pronglet_ also needs a Godmother." she looked at Natalie meaningfully.

"Really?" Natalie gasped and when the new parents nodded she squealed and eagerly hugged first Lily and then James "Thank you." she said then and wiped the few tears that managed to spill out of her eyes.

"Moony, we're sorry but." James looked at his other friend but Remus cut him off.

"That's alright, Prongs, I understand." he said and gave him a smile.

"Thanks Moony." James smiled gratefully "And I promise you, you'll get to be the Godfather of the next one." he said, earning a scowl from his wife.

"James Potter, if you really plan on having another one in recent future, it will be _you_ giving birth." Lily said and Natalie snickered.

It was ten minutes later and Sirius was still holding the little boy and Natalie was getting agitated.

"Padfoot, will you finally let me hold my Godson?" she said and reached her hands for the baby, however, Sirius drew away.

"Hey, no one takes _my_ Godson." he defended, making Natalie frown even more.

"_Your_ Godson? He's _my_ Godson!" she scowled.

"I got him first." Sirius said childishly.

"And you had him. And now it's time for his Godmother to have him."

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"Kids, if you're going to fight, give Harry to me at first." Remus chimed in but neither of his friends seemed to listen to him.

"No, Remus, they're not going to fight, they'll even stop argue if either of them wants to have Harry." Lily said and her words had an effect as an icy shower on Sirius and Natalie.

"Come on, Padfoot, give Harry to Swanny for a while." James said and at that, Sirius gave and exasperated sigh but he handed Harry to Natalie anyway. Natalie took the bundle with the utmost care. She still couldn't believe that she's holding a son of her best friends, and what was more - her _Godson_. As she held him, the baby slowly opened his eyes and stared at her with a strange, almost knowing look.

Natalie gasped "Oh my…Lily, he has your eyes!" she said with astonishment. The boy was looking so much like James that she had been almost willing to bet money on his eyes being hazel; however, the baby was now staring at her with emerald green eyes - Lily's eyes. For next ten minutes, Natalie was cooing at the baby and then she carefully gave the baby to Remus.

When Moony himself held the newborn long enough, he handed him back to his mother, who took him and watched him lovingly. James, who had been talking to Padfoot, now sat down on Lily's bedside once again and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Lily leaned into his touch and together, the new parents were cooing at their son and talking to him, every now and then one of them would softly caress his cheek or his tiny hands. Their three friends were watching the family with grins on their faces, happy for them. Natalie had, despite her wide smile, tears in her eyes and as she was watching Lily and James with Harry, subconsciously she wrapped her arms around Sirius' waist and leaned into him, and Sirius himself put an arm around her shoulders; but neither of them took their eyes off of the scene before them. They both were so absorbed into the atmosphere of the room, that they had actually forgotten even to feel awkward about their subconscious actions and neither of them could wipe the smirk off their faces. But just a few seconds later, Remus wordlessly gestured for them to leave and give their friends some privacy.

END OF FLASHBACK

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**There! We got to know how Harry came to be:) I hope you liked it just as I enjoyed writing it. See ya!**


	8. You gotta move

**Hello! Another one up and running:)I hope you like this one. Once again, thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

It was a few weeks after Harry's birthday. Sirius was bored out of his mind, really. Natalie had left to buy some things and he was left at home all alone. He had already read the new Daily Prophet and frankly, he was stunned by the news – Death Eaters showed up on the Quidditch World Cup. He had spent the whole day thinking about it, eaten whatever food was left there, and now he was aimlessly wandering around the house, which wasn't such a pleasant activity since the house wasn't that big. Finally, he decided what his new diversion would be; and he was slightly surprised he hadn't thought about it sooner. Quietly, as if someone might hear him, he headed to Natalie's room. He had been there only few times since he came back. First time, he wanted to see what had changed in her room since he had seen it last time (thirteen years ago). Sure, he knew it wasn't right to snoop around, even more because she was so kind to him, but he just couldn't help it. The first time he had seen her room, he was slightly taken aback by the fact that nothing had changed in her room. But then again, the fact that almost nothing in the whole house had changed might have given him a hint.

Her room was still the same as when he had seen it for the very first time. It was in their sixth year during summer, when he, James and Remus had been invited to spend two weeks at Natalie's. At that time, when he first saw that room, he had been amazed. Never before had he seen Natalie's dormitory (as boys weren't allowed into girls' rooms), but although he knew her very well, he would have never imagined that her room would be so girly. It wasn't very big but it was shiny. The walls were pale violet; the beadspread on the soft bed had a rosy pattern. All the furniture was white and on every free spot, there was either a plant or a candle. He remembered that the first thing Moony had noticed was the amount of books Natalie had, but the thing Sirius himself had been struck with at first, was the scent of the room. It was the same scent Natalie had – vanilla.

Now, he slowly opened the door leading into her room, and as always, the first thing he did was to inhale deeply. He knew to be very careful not to get caught by Natalie, otherwise he would have some explaining to do; but he figured he still had plenty of time before she would be back. Sirius now turned his attention to the things in Natalie's room. Not that he rummaged through her drawers, he was just looking around. The one thing he could never miss in her room was photos. She had many photos on the walls or on the cabinets. There were photos of her family, of her parents, who she had never known; of her grandparents, who he had met several times and considered them to be very nice people; and then he turned his attention to the photos of her friends. Some photos had been taken in Hogwarts, some after they finished school and joined the Order. His most favourite was the picture from James and Lily's wedding. It was a snapshot of all six of them – the newlywed couple was sharing one piece of wedding cake; Wormtail (and at this sight Sirius' face darkened) was slightly in the background with a glass in his hand. Remus was a little aside, chuckling as he was talking to Mad-Eye Moody, who was looking strangely out of place among all those dressed up people. But what always caught Sirius' eye was the look of Natalie and himself. They were sitting at the table next to James and Lily; however, they weren't paying attention to their friends, they weren't minding anyone but themselves. They both were laughing at something and their eyes were locked. Sirius could almost feel the feeling he had felt because it hadn't changed even after all those years.

Another one of his favourite photographs was the one taken some time after the wedding; he didn't know exactely when though. Their gang was hanging out at the Potters'. They were seated around their living room, having a good relaxing night spent by talking and drinking. James was sitting on the armchair nearest to the fireplace, Lily was comfortably seated on his lap with one arm wrapped around his neck; and Sirius didn't miss the slight bulge on her stomach, which was now Harry. Himself, he was sprawled acros the whole lenght of their sofa, leaving Remus and Natalie sitting on the ground, not that they minded. They were just laughing and having a pillow fight. Natalie was always the only one who could make Moony loosen up like that. Then there were a lot of photos of Harry, Harry with his parents and also a beautiful photo of Harry being held by his Godparents.

When Sirius looked at all of the photos, he fell backwards onto Natalie's bed – he figured that if he made the bed before she came home, she wouldn't recognize a thing. So he closed his eyes and let himself be carried away by her scent. He was lying there for a while, relaxing, when he heard a sudden noise. Quickly, he jumped out of the bed, thinking he was busted. But there was no one to be seen and he was sure that Natalie wasn't at home just yet. But then he heard that noise again and now he recognized it was coming from the window. When he looked that direction, he saw a big Snowy owl. He hastily came to the window and let Hedwig inside. Sirius didn't even cringe when the owl settled on Natalie's clean bed as he was almost hypnotized by piece of parchment she was carrying. Hedwig raised her talon gracefully and allowed him to take the letter.

"Come here, I'll give you some water, girl." he said and reached his arm and when Hedwig settled herself on his forearm (although her yellow eyes were telling him this was something she didn't do every day and was somewhat beneath dignity to her), he carefully carried her to the kitchen and gave her water and some Owl treats. Then he finally un-rolled the letter from his Godson.

_Dear Sirius,_

_Thanks for your last letter. That bird was enormous; it could hardly get through my window. _Well, yeah, one of the tropical birds Natalie had was a bit bigger, which was a good thing since the cake Natalie had made would be too heavy for an owl…

_Things are the same as usual here. Dudley__'s diet isn't going too well. My aunt found him smuggling doughnuts into his room yesterday._ Now that he thought about it…wasn't there an apple pie in the pantry?

_They told him they'__d have to cut his pocket money if he keeps doing it, so he got really angry and chucked his PlayStation out of the window._ Sirius raised his eyebrow. What the hell is a PlayStation?

_That__'s a sort of computer thing you can play games on_. Oh, right. But what the hell is a computer? Alright, never mind.

_Bit stupid really, now he hasn'__t even got Mega-Mutilation Part three to take his mind off things_. Muggles are weird…

_I'__m okay, mainly because the Dursleys are terrified you might turn up and turn them all into bats if I ask you to._ Sirius actually imagined much worse things into which he would turn those Muggles for the way they had been treating his Godson.

_A weird thing happened this morning, though. My scar hurt again. Last time that happened it was because Voldemort was at Hogwarts. But I don´t reckon he can be anywhere near me now, can he? Do you know if curse scars sometimes hurt years afterward?_ Now, Sirius jumped onto his feet so abruptly that he toppled over the chair he had been sitting on and re read the paragraph once again. With every word, more and more worried expression was sneaking into his face. He had been reading a lot of weird things over this summer, things that definitely weren't a coincidence - the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins not being the littlest one. And if that scar had hurt Harry, it was the top of everything.

_I´ll send this with Hedwig when she gets back; she´s off hunting at the moment. Say hello to Buckbeak for me. Harry._

Just hastily Sirius read the postscript, in which was Harry saying he was spending the rest of the summer at the Weasley's and going to the Quidditch World Cup. He knew he had to do something. Go back to Hogwarts and immediately. He didn't reckon Natalie would like it very much but it was his responsibility as Harry's Godfather. He hadn't been doing a good job so far, and right now - when he could feel in his bones that his Godson might be in danger - it was time to do what he had promised to his best friend all those years ago. But where would he hide? He might hide in the Shrieking shack again, sure, but if he were seen by anyone in Hogwarts again, the dementors would be called back. He knew he needed a better plan but the truth was, he had none…

For some time Sirius just paced around the kitchen nervously, feeling like a caged dog. He almost jumped when he heard the roar of flames in the fireplace but he relaxed again when he saw Natalie was back.

"Hi." she smilled at him and put the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter but when she saw his expression, her smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Read this." Sirius growled and pushed a crumpled piece of parchment into her hand. Natalie raised her eyebrows at his tone but when she saw his look, she began reading. Immediately, she figured out it was from Harry and her heart leaped a bit. If Sirius was freaking out like this, it surely wasn't good news from their Godson. When she read the first few paraghraphs, she snorted with amusement; however, when she got to the part about Harry's scar, a small crease appeared between her eyebrows and was growing as she was reading the rest of Harry's letter.

"This is the last straw to the things." Sirius said when he saw she had finished. "I must go north, as soon as possible."

"Wait, Sirius!" Natalie said rather sharply. "First of all: _you_ are not going anywhere, _we_ are going north. Second:" she raised her hand to silence him when he was about to protest. "We can't do anything inconsiderate. If you let yourself get caught, you will hardly help Harry, will you? I think it would be a good idea to discuss it with someone who can help us." she suggested.

"You mean Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.

"Precisely." Natalie said, came to the fireplace again and after she had thrown a handful of Floo powder into the flames, she sent message to Dumbledore and he replied to expect him in a few minutes.

Sure enough, after a short while the flames in the fireplace flashed green again and the Hogwarts Headmaster stepped out.

"Natalie? Sirius? You wished to talk to me immediately?" he asked.

"Yes, we think we might have a problem." Sirius said and handed him the letter from the young Potter. When the Headmaster read it, he softly sighed and then sat down.

"Sir? What…what does it mean?" Natalie asked uncertainly.

"I don't know yet, Natalie. But I, too, began noticing a few strange things, that I reckon are not just a coincidence. And with the upcoming term-"

"What about this term?" Sirius cut Dumbledore off quite bluntly.

"Alright, Sirius, I wanted to have a talk with you about it anyway, especially with Natalie…" the old wizard looked at Nat, who raised her eyebrows expectantly, waiting for further explanation. "I'll have to ask you though, not to speak about it, as according to the Ministry, it is still top-secret information. This year our school will be hosting students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, for the Triwizard Tournament shall be held in our school." Dumbledore said and both Sirius and Natalie were staring at him dumbfounded.

"Triwizard Tournament? Really?" Sirius, who had recovered as first, asked.

"Yes, really. The Ministry wants to deepen the good relations with our colleagues in foreign countries."

"We sure understand, but why did you want to talk to me because of this matter?" Natalie didn't understand.

"Natalie, my dear, I reckon you are aware of who is the current Headmaster of Durmstrang?" Dumbledore said and realization appeared on Natalie's face.

"Igor Karkaroff." she half-whispered and Sirius, too, seemed to realize what the problem was.

"Are you sure, Dumbledore, it's wise to let a former Death Eater in Hogwarts?" Sirius asked sharply.

"I've never said I thought it is wise to let him into Hogwarts. However, the Ministry doesn't give me much of a choice, Sirius. I've already took a precaution for that and I gave the vacant place of a teacher of Defence against dark arts to Alastor Moody but-"

"Moody? That's great! With Moody at school, Karkaroff won't try anything." Natalie's face lit up; however, Dumbledore didn't let himself be cut off this time.

"but I think that the more Aurors, although former, the better. For this, I would be very happy if you came to Hogwarts." he told Natalie and she was again dumbstruck.

"Me? To Hogwarts? But, sir, what possition would I have in Hogwarts? I reckon, Hagrid still had the teacher of Care of the Magical animals post?"

"Indeed, he has. No, I'm affraid you misunderstood. You wouldn't come as a teacher; you actually wouldn't be staying at Hogwarts at all. I have Alastor at Hogwarts but I'm affraid that as great as he is, only one wizard is rather deficient for looking out during the tasks. That would be your job. And now, we're getting to the matter you've called me here for…I think that the matter of Harry's scar should be indeed taken seriously, for I reckon that it's Harry's connection with Voldemort-"

"What?" Sirius barked and jumped up from his seat, although he, of course, had been anticipating no less.

"Of course, we can't be sure. Harry is the only known person to live through a curse like that and this is my mere opinion. But I can see your concern and I reckon it's a good idea that you would be closer to Hogwarts and your Godson."

"So what do you suggest, sir?" Natalie asked politely, pulling Sirius down again.

"I suggest that you both move into Hogsmead and remain there for the rest of the term. That way, you can be close to Harry and also in case I'll need you to help during the Triwizard Cup." Dumbledore said and Padfoot and Swanny looked at each other .

"It would be great, sir, but where in Hogsmead would we stay? Sirius can't be seen, the least of all in Hogsmead."

"Well, considering Sirius is an Animagi, that shouldn't be a problem." Dumbledore chuckled slightly. "But I believe I know about the perfect place where you could stay. It's a cottage almost on the edges of Hogsmead. That way, you'll have a place to stay and you won't be very suspicious. Yes, I think I'll arrange it for you immediately." He said and got up from his seat.

"If I may suggest, you should get all of the things you'll need ready. I also want to remind you, Sirius, that it would be highly inconsiderate of you to just apparate to Hogsmead. You just should go in your Animagi form or use that good hippogriff you have tied in the garden."

"I know." Sirius said, a little grimly. Dumbledore just nodded and headed to the fireplace.

"As soon as I arrange for you the place to stay, I shall let you know. Be prepared, because the sooner you get to Hogsmead the better." he said and with that, he threw a fistful of Floo powder into the fireplace and vanished.

For a while, both Sirius and Natalie were staring into the now vacant fireplace, a little dumbstruck.

"We'd better started packing." Natalie finally said and Sirius nodded wordlessly and headed to the guest room, which he had been occupying since his arrival, to gather the few things he had (mostly the stuff that Natalie'd got for him). He was finished in a few minutes and then he remembered that he had yet to answer to Harry's letter. Judging by Hedwig's state when she had arrived, how hungry and thirsty she had been, she had traveled for a long time and Harry was surely waiting for his answer anxiously. He sat down to the table and began scribbling very he was in the middle of the letter, Natalie entered the kitchen again, carrying two bags.

"Have you been you lounging in my bed?" she asked when she found him, but Sirius, engrossed in the letter he was writing, didn't even cringe.

"It was Hedwig. She settled on your bed when she arrived." he answered absentmindly. So absentmindly, that not knowing him better, Natalie would have thought he was telling her the truth. But she knew better.

"Uh-huh. Next time, please, tell her to make the bed again." she retorted and began packing some food. In the meantime, Sirius finished the letter, rolled it and attached it to Hedwig's talon.

"So…how are we going to get into Hogsmead?" Natalie asked when Sirius opened the window and Hedwig flew out, carrying the scrap of parchment.

"No one said you can't apparate." Sirius said and Natalie frowned.

"You don't really think I would let you go alone, do you?"

"I do and I think it would be for the best. If someone saw you with me, you would be in one hell of a mess." he said and Nat raised her eyebrows.

"Who are you and what have you done with Sirius? As if getting in trouble has ever ment anything, to you of all people." she snorted and Padfoot's face darkened and a shadow came over his eyes.

"This is different!" He said sharply "This is not about getting detention or expulsion! This is about being thrown into Azkaban for the rest of your life!"

"Do you think I don't know it?"

"You sure act as if you didn't!"

"What? Sirius, what the hell is this supposed to mean? After a month, you suddenly are worried they'll find out I'm helping you?"

"You said it was safe here." Sirius retorted.

"Of course it is safe but that's the besides point. But listen to me and listen carefuly: I decided to help you. Willingly. And if you consider me some airhead who doesn't know what the dangers are, then you are fairly mistaken. I know what I would be facing and I'm taking the risks." Natalie said. Sirius didn't answer, he just turned around and facing the window, he leaned against the window ledge. He was looking at the heavy clouds with tormented eyes.

Slowly, Natalie came over to him and put her hand onto his shoulder, immediately feeling him get tense.

"What is this about?" she said, her tone gentle again. Sirius sighed and for a long time he was quiet, before he finally responded in a strained voice.

"You remember how I told you about those nightmares?" he asked in near whisper.

"Of course." Natalie said hesitantly and at that, Sirius nodded grimly, without even looking at her.

"The other nightmare I still have, equally horrible, is about you." he said and it slowly dawned on Natalie.

"That I get caught for helping you?" she asked carefully and Sirius shrugged.

"Doesn't matter what for, does it? I just know that I don't want you to end up in…_there._" he said throught clenched teeth and his expression was now as dark as that evening he had showed up on Natalie's doorstep.

Natalie sighed and squeezed his shoulder again.

"Now, Sirius, I know it's not easy but it's just a dream. And you know that it's safe for me to come with you. In case you forgot, I'm an Animagus, too, you know?" she smiled slightly.

"I know. I guess I'm just paranoid."

"I understand. But you have to face it. It will be alright." she whispered and suddenly Sirius felt an overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around her and he did just so. Natalie hugged him back tightly, wrapping him not only in her arms but also in her scent. In a moment, Sirius felt himself getting calm again. Natalie must have felt it as well for she pulled away slightly and their eyes locked. Without either of them really realizing, their faces inched close slowly, almost painfully slowly. Just for a split second, Sirius hesitated before he drew his lips even closer until they brushed Natalie's. Even from this feather touch, he could feel the softness of her lips and the scent was now mind-blowing. However, just as he pressed his lips even closer, a roar of green flames echoed from the fireplace and immediately they both jumped away from each other. Once again! Sirius had to fight the urge to scream with frustration and kick something. Natalie, looking as distressed as Sirius, walked to the fireplace where now Dumbledore's head was hovering. She blushed slightly when she realized that the Hogwarts Headmaster must have seen them, but he acted nonchalantly.

"I think you'll be both glad to hear that I managed to find you a place to stay in Hogsmead. It's the cottage I've already mentione. As I said, it's on the edge of Hogsmead but I shall warn you though, Sirius; don't go out other than in your Animagus form. I also recommend you to travel at night. Natalie, please, give me a notice as soon as you arrive to Hogsmead, then we will talk about your work during the Triwizard Cup."

"Of course, sir." Natalie nodded.

"Now, the last thing: I'll tell Hagrid to go to your place and take care after your animals as I believe he will be the right person to deal with your Tebo." Dumbledore said and Natalie raised her eyebrows.

"How do you know about the Tebo?" she wondered.

"That, my dear, is talk for another time, I'm affraid. I wish you a pleasant journey, please be careful." he said and when both Natalie and Sirius nodded and thaked the old wizard, he vanished.

Sirius and Natalie were left there, crouched in front of the vacant fireplace, and now an awkward silence was settling between them again. When Natalie felt Sirius' look on her, she looked up at him but as soon as she saw the intent look of his grey eyes, she looked away and blushed. Then she hastily got up and began packing the last things. Seeing her actions, Sirius sighed heavily and got up as well. It was starting to annoy him, how they were always avoiding the talk they soon would have to have since these antics were driving them both crazy.

"We should let Remus know that we're leaving." Natalie said then and took a scrap of parchment and a quill.

"Don't write anything too specific." Sirius said and Natalie nodded. She wrote Remus just a short note that she was leaving because of an urgent matter and that he should ask Dumbledore for closer information. She took one of her owls, attached the note to its talon and told it to find Remus Lupin. As soon as the owl left into the darkening sky, Natalie realized they should get going as well.

"We should go." she told Sirius.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go with me?" he asked hesitantly.

"Absolutely." Natalie said "Someone has to make sure you won't stop in every pub you'll come across." she smiled slightly at him and he smiled back.

"I'm not sure you're the right person for that." he said and Natalie stuck her tongue at him. This was their way to brush off the awkward tension between them, although now it wasn't working as effectively as everytime before.

"Alright, just this little detail." Natalie said and with a flick of her wand, she sent their packed things into their new home. "And we can go, can't we?" she asked Sirius and he nodded grimly and one last time, he looked around. He had spent one month in this house but he was already feeling like at home here and he was sure he would be missing this house. He couldn't even imagine what it must be for Natalie; she had lived here her entire life.

But when he looked at her, he realized he was not looking at his friend anymore. Or actually, he was but on her place, there was now standing a proud-looking Red-crowned crane, which was watching him intently with inteligent eyes of his dear friend. He had to chuckle when he remembered her mirth after changing into the crane for the first time, joking she just had to stick to her name. The bird in front of him tilted its head as if to ask him what the hell was he laughing at.

"It's been some time since I've seen you like this, Swanny." he said. The bird was watching him, still with that curious look, but then it tilted its head on the other side, pecked him into his leg and left through the opened door into the garden. Sirius just shook his head, chuckling, and followed it.

The crane waited patiently for him to untie Buckbeak; and just when he finally mounted the hippogriff, it spread its wings and flew gracefully.

The whole way took them all night long. They had to be very careful not to fly too much across cities or villages - the last thing they wanted was to be seen. Swanny was always flying a bit in front of them, leading the way, every now and then flying ahead and higher to check for the way.

When they arrived to Hogsmead, the sky on the east was slowly beginning to lighten. They managed to find the house rather quickly; it didn't even look as bad, although it was considerably smaller than Natalie's house. Since they were quite reluctant to leave Buckbeak in the open garden, where anyone could see him, though not many people came into this part of the village, they took him inside.

Natalie was after such a long way absolutely exhausted. Sirius just sent Buckbeak inside but he didn't even get to accomodate him in one of the room, because when he looked at Natalie, he saw she was walking unsteadily, holding the walls for support. Immediately, he rushed to her side and helped her on the sofa.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a great concern and crouched in front of her.

"I'm fine." Natalie said and ran a shaky hand over her pale face.

"I'll make you some tea." Sirius said and got up but Natalie caught his hand.

"First we should get Dumbledore know we're here." she said.

"I'll do that."

"Are you sure it's safe for you?" Natalie worried and Sirius shrugged.

"They don't expect me to use Floo network, do they? Besides, even if they did, they won't catch me. Don't worry." he said and left to the fireplace. After a short talk with Dumbledore, he headed to the small kitchen to make some tea for them.

"No, you're staying here." he told Buckbeak, which made an effort to follow him. In the kitchen, he made the whole kettle of tea and a sandwich for Natalie - he decided not to try his luck and cook tonight; he might as well keep the kitchen un-burned for the first day.

Natalie smiled gratefully when he gave her a plate with sandwich and poured a cup of tea for her.

"Thank you. You're a life saver." she smiled at him and Sirius felt his insides squirming.

"I think I owe you much more for how you've been taking care of me over this summer." Sirius said and sat down next to her.

"Don't be silly." Natalie said after she politely swallowed a piece of sandwich. Sirius didn't reply but he was watching her curiously while she was eating. On their way, he had enough time to think and he had decided it wasn't possible for them to carry on like this. He just couldn't take it anymore; _wouldn't_ take it anymore. Sure, he had promised her to be just friends for some time but it already _had been_ some time, right? The tension between them was increasing every day and this last kiss was just…last straw. Sirius decided to be the one to start the inevitable talk and was determined to talk to her as soon as possible - that would be after she finished her sandwich and regained some strength back. As he was watching her, he felt himself getting more and more nervous (although he knew it was ridiculous), and he wished she would finally finish her meal. However, she was eating so damn slowly, Sirius would almost swear that she was doing it purposely. But when she finally finished and once again thanked him for the meal, her look was sincere.

"I think we should go to take a look at the bedrooms and unpack some things." Natalie suggested but her voice sounded tired.

"No, let's just stay here for a little longer, you're tired." Sirius said and Natalie nodded and supressed a yawn. At that, they both shared a laugh but then Natalie frowned. "What's wrong?" Sirius asked with concern.

"Nothing, it's just a headache. I think I've overstrained myself tonight."

When he heard that, Sirius took a pillow from the sofa and put it on his lap. Then he gently took Natalie's shoulders "Come on, lay down here" he said and helped her ease herself with her head on his lap. As soon as Natalie laid her head onto his lap, one of his hands moved from her shoulder to her head and Natalie closed her eyes when Sirius began stroking her hair and neck. Neither of them was talking, they were just enjoying each other's company.

"Blossom?" Sirius said after a while, making sure she hadn't fallen asleep yet; however, when she didn't answer, he looked down at her and saw her eyes were closed, faced relaxed and her even breathing proved she was in a deep slumber. Sirius sighed, ran his hand through her hair once more and then he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her forhead. Then he leaned his head back against the cushions and fell into content sleep himself.

* * *

**What do you think? Frustrating, right? Damn, they have the worst bad luck getting together! Well, but who knows, what comes next;)**


	9. She Said Yeah

**Hi, I'm back! Sorry for the delay but I had to write a final essay on literature. Urgh, what a drag - it kind of took the appeal of writing altogether. But it's finished and here I go again:)**

* * *

Sirius woke up some time later and the first thing he noted was his stiff neck and an unfamiliar weight on his legs. But immediately, he remembered where he was and with a slight smile he looked down at Natalie's sleeping form, just to find her lying on her back, looking up at him with a dreamy smile.

"Hello." she whispered.

"Hello there. Feeling better?" he asked in the same hushed voice, although the only thing they could disturb was Buckbeak, who was sleeping on the rug in front of the fireplace.

"Much, thank you."

"And whatever were you doing just now?" he grinned.

"Why, watching you sleep, of course." Natalie replied.

"Kind of boring." Sirius said.

"Boring? Watching you sleep? Never." Natalie said, still not doing any effort to get up and Sirius was more than willing to serve her as a pillow. At her response, Sirius chuckled.

"You're crazy."

"Crazy about you." Natalie blurted out and when she realized what she had just said, her hands shot up to her mouth. Sirius himself was fairly looking taken aback.

"You- what?" he stummered and now Natalie abruptly got up, looking awkward.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it. Not after I made you promise me we will be just friends, this isn't fair to you and I-"

Natalie was getting into her rambling when Sirius, all of a sudden, took her face into his hands and cut her off with a kiss, surprising not only her but himself as well. For a short while, Natalie was stunned by the sudden feeling of his lips on hers but soon enough, she recovered and began responding him. The kiss was slow and tender and yet it was filled with all the long suppressed emotions.

When Sirius was getting breathless, he pulled away slightly, but still holding her head in his hands and now he carresed her cheek with his thumb.

"You don't even know how long have I waited for this." he whispered and Natalie gave him a coy smile.

"I think I've got the idea." she replied and once again glued her lips to his. "Seventeen years." she said when they drew away again and she pulled a strand of his hair away from his forehead. At that, Sirius chuckled softly.

"Yes, however, at that time I was rather hoping not to be so obvious about that. Guess it didn't work."

"Of course it didn't." Natalie smiled. "I had you figured out ever since you gave me that twig of jasmine." she said.

"And still you didn't go with me to that New Year's Eve ball that year." Sirius said with a small smile and Natalie didn't have to think long to remember the ball.

FLASHBACK

At the beginning of the term, Sirius came to the Kings Cross with James and his parents. It had been the best summer break ever (after he had run away from home and moved in with James), but he was already looking forward to returning to Hogwarts, ready to breake even more school rules and also girls' hearts. They hadn't been at Kings Cross even five minutes, and several girls had already been giving both him and James meaningful looks, which he was smugly returning. He was lazily leaning against the wall, chatting with Prongs - who was craning his head to see a certain redhead - and looking as haughty and bored as always, although he was sure enjoying the girls' attention. But suddenly, someone's hands covered James' eyes and his friend stiffened.

"What the-"

"Surprised?" a familiar voice had said and Natalie leaped from behind Prongs' back and hugged James. Sirius had smiled subconsciously and was about to greet her as well but when he saw his friend, he had to blink several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Natalie was looking nothing like when she had left for holidays that summer. She was still small but her shape had been fuller; she had full round hips and Sirius had had to restrain himself not to stare at her considerably bigger chest. Although at the beginning of the summer she had mentioned going to Spain for some time, she had been still rather pale, but her cheeks were full of freckles, which had probably been revealed by the sharp sunrays. Her hair somehow wasn't frizzy anymore, it was also cropped into a peculiar hairstyle and the odd undefinable colour, which had been sun-streaked during the summer, was making a strange effect in it - it was now looking almost black with red strands. He noticed that she was getting attention of many boys as well as girls, who were watching her with unconcealed jealousy. He, however, had been more irked by the boys' attention to his friend...

As every year, even in Natalie's sixth year the New Year's Eve ball was a greatly anticipated event. The vast majority of Hogwart's students came earlier from Christmas holiday, not wanting to miss this big party. Even before Christmas, the whole school was discussing their dates, clothes and so on. Natalie surely wouldn't miss the ball either, it was always a great fun, but she had never belonged to the mass of girls giggling when a boy was passing by, hoping he would invite her to the ball. Not that she had ever had many invitations either, with her frizzy hair and glasses she was glad that Remus would go with her. However, that year Sirius hadn't been the only one to notice the changed looks of Natalie Crane.

Now, before Christmas, everyone was furiously looking for a date. James was more than grim these days. Everyday, he would invite Lily Evans to the ball and everyday, she would turn him down. Natalie was feeling desperately sorry for him, he was really distressed because of the fierce redhead; but on the other hand, Natalie was already annoyed of how thick he was. She kept telling him that Lily surely would gladly accept to be his date (she was her roomate after all, she _had_ to know), but James always chose the most wretched way to invite her. Like when he had shouted his offer right across the Great Hall so everyone in Hogwarts had heard him; the next day he had charmed a paper butterfly so for the whole day, it had been flying around her head while singing the Muggle song _Love is in the air_; and then there had been an incident, when he had written a love poem for her - which was rather cute but he had read it to Lily during a Transfiguration class, when he sat behind her and kept reciting until they both received a detention for disturbing from professor McGonagall.

Natalie had even tried to talk to Lily for her friends' sake, but she had resolutely denied any sympathies for James Potter, saying he was just a big show off. Although Natalie was part of the Marauders gang, Lily had always been kind to her (she was actually the only girl friend Natalie had) but now, she just refused to listen to Natalie's arguments about James.

So it ended like every other year – at the last minute, James had invited a girl who hadn't had a date yet (this year it was a Ravenclaw fifth year girl, who was decent enough but James didn't even know her).

This year, even Remus was going through a lot of stress because of a girl. Until now, every year he and Natalie had been going to the ball together. Natalie had never been one to be invited and Moony had always been loyal to his best friend. Besides, he hadn't been really that concerned about girls. He had always proclaimed to be too busy to find a girl but his friends knew him better - they didn't have to ask to know that he was worried because of his lycantrophy. But this year, Remus was dying to invite one girl. Her name was Laura, she was fourth year Griffindor, and she had transfered this year from America. Since the first day he had seen her, he had eyes only for her, he was even spending more time in library because that was obviously her favourite place to be.

"Come on, Moony, invite her already before someone else does." Natalie said, sounding exasperated. It was about a week before Christmas and they were sitting in the Griffindor Common room near the fireplace, working on their homework and chatting, when Remus stopped writting with his quill a few inches above his parchment, not even noticing that ink was slowly dripping onto his essay as he was watching Laura with a loving look.

At Natalie's words, Remus finally looked away and blushed "Yeah, Moony, she's right, you know? Just invite her or I will." Sirius joked and Remus gave him a shove,

"It's easy for you to say." Remus mumbled and finally noticed his ruined essay and with a lazy flick of his wand, he let the blotes disappear.

"Yeah, Padfoot, just bear with him; girls at this time aren't that easy to get." James said grimly and all his friends knew he was referring to Lily.

"James, I've told you hundreth times that if you just invited her _decently_ she'd say yes." Natalie said.

"Hey, I've tried the most romantic ways, you know?" he defended and at that, Sirius snorted.

"How was a detention romantic?"

"The _poem_ was supposed to be romantic!" James said, obviously annoyed.

"Sorry, mate, I'm just saying, it's not that difficult to invite a girl. You just go, give her a charming smile, and while looking into her eyes you ask her to go out with you. That's it." Sirius said, put down his quill and comfortably sprawled out in his armchair.

"Sirius, you'd better be quiet. Someone has problems to get a girl but I know of certain _someone_ who has problems to dump them." Natalie said teasingly. She had often been the one delivering the bad news to girls who he had not the intention to see again. All remaining Marauders immediately fell into a fit of laughter and even Sirius grinned. However, their laughter quieted down when they heard a giggle from the other side of the room. There was a group of girls from their year sitting, Lily Evans among them. Obviously, they were discussing the ball as well.

"So, Lily, has he invited you already?" Emily, Lily's friend and Natalie's least favourite roommate, asked excitedly and giggled.

"Yes, he has. Today after lunch." Lily answered with a smile and all the group of girls giggled again.

"Guess they aren't talking 'bout you, are they?' Sirius asked his friend in a hushed voice but James was too stunned to answer, which gave Sirius the answer as well.

"Oh, Lily, you're so lucky. I mean, every girl would absolutely love to go out with Scott and he has invited _you_." Emily beamed. Natalie really didn't like Emily and she didn't like Natalie and the Marauders. "Finally, Potter will stop bugging you." she said and Natalie felt a spark of anger. Also Sirius stiffened and made a move to get up and head to the group of girls and have a nice talk with Emily (who was by the way his ex-girlfriend), but James just put his hand on his shoulder.

"Just leave it, Padfoot." he said and none of his friends missed the sorrowful tone in his voice. "I think I'm off to bed." he said then, didn't even bother to gather his things, and left into his dormitory. His friends watched him leave with pity but Natalie then shot the group of girls a look and didn't miss the sorrowful look with which was Lily watching James.

"Bitch." Padfoot murmured, still sending glares at Emily, and Natalie nodded knowingly.

"Tell me about it, I share a room with her."

"Is she giving you a hard time?" Remus asked and Natalie shrugged.

"Not anymore. There was a time when anytime I came into my room, all of my things were scattered around and once I came and caught her messing with my things. Let's just say that I was a better dueler than she was." Natalie said and Sirius chuckled.

"So that was the incident the whole school was talking about – when her face was covered with fur." he said and Natalie nodded.

"Green fur." she clarified and both boys laughed, only slightly disturbing Wormtail, who was asleep in his armchair.

"What do we do about Prongs?" Remus said then.

"I might talk to Lily again but I don't know…" Natalie said.

"Or I could talk to her." Sirius suggested and Nat snorted.

"Padfoot, she can't stand you. If she thinks Prongs is a show off, what do you think she thinks of you?" she asked.

"She's got a point. If you won't succeed I'll talk to her." Moony said.

"You, Moony, will first talk to Laura. Look, there she is again." Sirius said and pointed to the staircase where Remus' love object appeared with a huge pile of books in her arms. Suddenly, Remus blushed again. "Just go, this is your chance. Take her books, ask her out and then offer her help with her homework." Sirius couched him and although Remus still seemed reluctant to go, he was at least considering it.

"It _might_ work." he said hesitantly.

"It will work. She's always alone, she would like a friend." Natalie joined but Sirius shot her a pointed look.

"Swanny, Moony here doesn't want to be her _friend._" he said as if he was explaining something to a small child and Natalie rolled her eyes.

"I know that, Mr. Snog-and-go," hearing that, Remus got another fit of laughter. "I mean, if she's lonely she will like company. Just go, Moony, it will work out." she said and inwardly prayed she was right.

Just very reluctantly and slowly, Remus got up but Sirius had to shove him forward because suddenly he was frozen to the spot. Padfoot and Swanny were watching their werewolf friend to approach his dream-girl hesitantly, and talk to her. First, she seemed a little apprehensive but she was listening him carefully, and to Remus happiness, she didn't giggle when he finally asked her to the ball. Then they saw her nodding and Moony went with her to one table to look at her homework. He grinned at them and they grinned back and then gave each other high-five.

"At least one of our friends." Natalie said contentedly, although the matter with Prongs was still bothering her.

"Yeah, and Wormtail here said something about not being here for the ball." he said and nodded to their slumbering friend. "Something about big family celebration in Canada, or somehting like this." Sirius added at Natalie's quizzical look.

"That's not that bad." Natalie said and Sirius snorted sarcastically. Big family celebrations were _very_ bad if you were a Black.

"What about you? You've just lost your date for the ball." Sirius said suddenly "Don't you wanna come with me?" he asked suddenly and Natalie raised her eyebrows again, in complete surprise.

"To fill your harem?" she asked jokingly and Padfoot grinned.

"No, this year I'm going solo. You know, I'll just go alone and after midnight I'll take care of the girls that got dumped by their stupid boyfriends." he said and Natalie snorted with amusement. Leave it to Sirius to come up with a new way to get a girl; although she had rather been hoping he had intended to go alone for another reason.

"As entincing as it sounds, I can't, I go with…someone else." she said and now it was her turn to blush like a tomato.

"Really now? Who do you go with?" Sirius asked with a sudden interrest.

"With Terry Collins." she said quietly and suddenly her hands seemed very interresting to her.

"Terry Collins? Terry Collins from Hufflepuff? The Keeper of Hufflepuff Quidditch team? That bighead that every girl's crazy about?" he asked incredulously and Natalie nodded.

"That would be him." she said quietly and didn't dare to look into his eyes.

"Nat, I thought you didn't belong to those naive airheads thinking that Terry Collins would invite them for anything but a good shag." he said and at that, Natalie's head snapped up and her eyes flashed.

"Excuse me?"

"Blossom, I'm very sorry to be the one to tell you, but throughout this year every boy in this school is talking about you and how to get into your…uhm, well, you know."

"Sirius, how dare you?" Natalie said sharply although her tone sounded more hurt than angry.

"It is truth, believe me, I heard them myself. Just think about it – has Terry Collins ever as much as talked to you? And suddenly, he's asking you to the ball? Swanny, you don't want to be another of his trophys, do you?" he said and his eyes were so serious that they seemed to be a shade darker. To Sirius' relief Natalie seemed to consider his words but in the next while, he was highly disappointed.

Natalie gave him a soft sad smile "I can't believe you, Sirius. You, of all people, are jealous. How do you think I feel now? Your little speech surely didn't raise my self-confidence, you know? And the funny thing is that you don't even have a reason to be jealous. I don't like Terry in that way, I just thought it would be nice to talk to some new people and no one else seemed to be even _considering_ inviting me so I accepted. And for your information, Padfoot, he at least had the decency to ask me as his date, not as his source of fun until he finds another chick to date." Natalie said and got up. However, she didn't miss Sirius' grumbling remark.

"Whatever he said he _did_ invite you as his source of fun." he mumbled but not quietly enough. For a while, Natalie froze and her eyes darkened as well. Before answering, she took one deep calming breath.

"For the sake of our friendship I'll pretend I didn't hear that. You can be jealous as much as you please, Sirius, but I'm going to the ball with Terry Collins. If you invited me sooner, I would have gladly said yes but I've already promised, Padfoot. Now, I'm going to bed before you say other things that we would both regret. Good night." she said softly and was about to head to her dormitory when Sirius caught her wrist.

"Wait." he said and Natalie turned around. "You may think I'm lying to you because I'm jealous but what I've said is the truth, I swear. Even if you don't believe me, just promise me you'll keep it in mind." he said and Natalie just swallowed when she saw his intent look.

"Alright." she whispered then and when Sirius finally let her go, she quickly turned around and hastily strided to her room.

Although Natalie wasn't one of those girls who chatted about clothes without stopping (and she didn't even have anyone to do that with, since it wasn't boys' favourite topic), she did care what she would wear to the ball. During her Christmas holidays, she went to find herself a dress and she made a big effort to find the best one. As she had heard all those girls' talk about clothes from her roomates, she had fairly good idea what was in fashion and what dresses would the other girls wear. She had a hard time to find the right one, but finally, she settled on a pale yellow dress with a flowing skirt; the bodice with braun embroidery was showing off her new shape quite nicely. She was quite proud of it.

At the New Year's Eve, Natalie went to get prepared in early afternoon hours, which left the boys rather stunned. She had always gone to get prepared about an hour before the ball and still she had always looked nice, so what was with that change now? All boys presumed it was because of her date and this thought left them with a grim feeling. Needless to say, that none of Natalie's friends was happy with her choice of date. Remus had even offered to cancel his date with Laura and going with Nat instead, at which she almost whacked him across his head with a heavy book; and once Natalie had even caught Prongs and Padfoot planning to hex Terry. Although she was more than angry with the whole lot of them, Natalie had to admit she was glad to have so over-protective friends. The talk with Sirius was still clinging to her mind and every night before falling asleep, she was pondering if she had made the right choice to go with Terry. Damn Sirius, why had he told that?

"For Merlin's sake, she had left to get dressed two hours before us, why does it take her so damn long?" James was complaining while they were waiting at the bottom of the stairs to the girls' dormitory, all of them wearing dress robes.

Remus was looking very unusual in his dark marroon dress robe, which was, in contrary to his school robes, in perfect state. James had chosen dark red robe, which was suiting him perfectly and Sirius was striking all the girls with his handsome looks when he showed up in his robe of colour of summer midnight sky. In the end, neither James nor Sirius were going with a date this year, to a great surprise of the whole school. But neither of them cared – James cared for only one girl, who was already going with someone else; and Sirius, although he had been hoping a bit to go with Natalie, had big plans in his mind. As uncool as it may seem to go alone, he would be leaving as the king of the night, after he would get all the dumped girls. And everyone knew he could get himself a date in five seconds anyways.

"Once she goes with someone else and she's like every other girl." Sirius said bitterly.

Remus was about to say something but in that time Laura appeared on the staircase and he lost his voice. Padfoot and Prongs just grinned at each other, watching their friend blushing.

"Don't forget to breathe, Moony." Prongs said with a teasing grin, but when Laura arrived downstairs, he fell quiet. Remus introduced his friends to Laura and then they all waited for Natalie.

Finally, after long ten minutes, during which Sirius and James bombarded Laura with questions about her country, Natalie appeared on the stairs as well, however in the first moments the boys didn't recognize her. Not only had she a beautiful dress but her hair was different as well. It wasn't one of her wild hairstyles; it fell down her shoulders in nice shiny curls. She looked like a different person as she gave them a happy smile, which none of the boys returned as they were gaping at her.

"Collins is one fucking happy son of a-" Sirius murmured but was cut by a nudge of James' elbow. Fortunately, Natalie was still descending the stairs and in the buzz of the common room she wasn't able to hear him.

"Hello, boys." she said when she came down and smiled again but then a crease appeared between her eyebrows when she saw their expression. "Is something wrong?" she asked and then she leaned closer to them. "I haven't left a hair-curler in my hair, have I?" she asked quietly and nervously reached to her curls. Truthfully, she was very self-conscious and she was worried of their odd expressions.

"No, no, your hair looks great, Nat, really." James said quickly and then nudged Sirius again "Say something, Padfoot." Prongs hissed quietly.

"Yeah, you…uhm, you look perfect." Sirius murmured and got astonished looks from James and Remus, however Natalie gave him a sweet smile.

"Thank you." she said and when their eyes locked for a while, she was almost reluctant to go with Terry. But as quickly as it came she dismissed it and then turned her attention to Laura "Hello, I'm Natalie, you must be Laura." she said nicely to the fourth year, who seemed to be a little intimidated by the four sixth years.

"Hi" she said a little shyly.

"You have a really nice dress, Laura." Nat said then, and she was right, Laura was wearing a light blue dress with a white sash around her waist.

"Thanks, you too." the younger girl replied.

"Shall we go?" Remus said then so they all headed to the painting of Fat Lady and then through the decorated hallways to the Entrance Hall. Remus and Laura were trailing a little behind to have some privacy, while Natalie was going with James and Sirius. Once before the stairs down to the Entrance Hall Natalie turned to her "escort".

"Terry's waiting for me downstairs so…have fun and I'll see you around." she gave them last smile and she was gone. They just spotted her to meet with Terry and the couple immediately got into talking about something.

Natalie was having a great evening so far. Terry was nice to her and he was fun to talk to. The main attraction of the evening was The Weird Sisters, a wizarding band, and the whole Great Hall was echoing with their music. People were enjoying themselves immensly, dancing and with the gaining hours, more and more couples were sneaking out to the gardens, none of them really seeking fresh air but a privacy to have fun of a different kind.

Natalie was laughing merrily when the song ended and she and Terry were still breathing heavily from the dance.

"This song was great, I wish I knew the Weird Sisters before." she said loudly to Terry.

"You've never heard of Weird Sisters before?" Terry raised his eyebrows.

"No, I haven't. My grandparents are Muggles, they don't listen to the wizarding bands." she explained but Terry looked as surprised as before.

"I didn't know were a Muggle born."

"Well, I am. Why, is that a problem?" she asked cautiously.

"No, of course not. I just didn't know" Terry said hastily and then led her a little bit away from the dancing crowd. "I guess I haven't got a good chance to get to know you when you are still around that little gang of yours." he said and gave her a slight smile but Natalie literally lit up with the mention of her friends. She was about to say something but Terry beat her to it "And I would love to get to know you." he said and Natalie blushed.

"I would like to get to know you as well, you are fun to be around" she said, not even realizing how naive she was being.

"Well then, let's go." Terry said and wrapped his arm around Natalie's waist and at this unexpected touch, Natalie tensed a bit.

"Go where?" she asked and Terry chuckled.

"Outside, silly." he said and tried to steer her to the door but Natalie made no effort to go there. She knew what he ment.

"You know, I like it here, it's fun. Let's stay and dance some more."

"Oh come on, there would be plenty of fun outside and I'm tired of dancing, let's go." he said but Natalie was reluctant.

"Then we don't have to dance. How about a drink?" she suggested and Terry sighed in annoyance and then he quickly ran his look around the Great Hall, as if deciding what to do next.

"Alright." he said then "wait here, I'll get it."

"You know what? You go get the drinks and I'll just go to the washroom very quickly" Natalie said and when they agreed on meeting on the same spot at which they parted, she quickly headed to the bathroom.

However, when she came back, Terry was nowhere to be seen. Natalie just thought that she had been quicker than he had but after another ten minutes during which he didn't arrive, she was becoming suspicious. Attentively, she looked around the Great hall and searched through the crowds of jolly students and professors but then her look found a person in dark grey robes, which had been Terry's. That person, undoubtfuly the famous Hufflepuff Keeper, was leaving the Great Hall with a tall blond in a bright pink dress and Natalie didn't doubt where were they headed. With a giggle, she shrugged.

"So much for my famous date." she thought and felt a kind of relief. As much as fun Terry had been, she was becoming aware of a strange feeling in her guts in which she recognized wariness. She didn't like some of his possessive gestures and swollen-headed behaviour of a so-called Hogwarts celebrity. Some people said that James and Sirius were haughty but now Natalie realized that they were no match to Terry Collins.

With the thought of her friends, Natalie smiled happily – now she didn't have to feel torn. Quickly, she looked around once again in attempt to find dark blue or dark crimson robes. Finally, she spotted them, where else than by the food table. Neither of them seemed to be too happy in Natalie's opinion. James was frowning and Natalie didn't doubt that the whole evening he had been watching a certain redhead, and she also noticed that Sirius hadn't put his big plans into action yet, seeing as he was standing there alone just with his best mate.

"Having fun?" Natalie asked cheerily when she approached them. Sirius looked up and smiled a bit while James didn't even hear her question as he was staring at Lily and her new boyfriend.

"It's not really my kind of music." Sirius said and nodded to the band on the stage. Natalie nodded, knowing that both James and Sirius were very keen of rock music of every kind – wizarding or muggle, while The Weird Sisters with their slow songs wasn't really their thing. "How are things going with that Hufflepuff of yours?" he asked and Natalie snorted.

"Not too well" she said and Sirius' head snapped up.

"What happened?" he asked sharply.

"Nothing much, he just wanted me to go to the gardens with him but I wouldn't comply and a minute ago I saw him leaving with some girl form Rawenclaw." She summarized quickly but her tone hadn't lost anything on its cheeriness.

"That git, don't worry Swanny, we will take care of it for you. Hey Prongs…" he was about to nudge his friend to get his attention but Natalie stopped him abruptly.

„No, Sirius wait, that's alright. Really. Just drop it." she said and Sirius raised one eyebrow in disbelieving gesture.

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure. Just leave it, he's not worth it. But I should apologize to you; I guess you were right about Terry from the beginning. I'm sorry for the things I said." she looked at him coyly and Sirius seemed to ponder.

"You know…" he said in a tone which was saying that Sirius was up to something "I think I _might_ forgive you for your very poor judgement but I have a condition" he said mischievously.

"Condition? Padfood, if it's something-" _Naughty_, she was about to say but Sirius cut her off.

"I want you to dance with me." he blurted and Natalie was stunned for a while. Sirius Black? Dance? He had said he didn't even like the music…

"Well, I- alright." she stuttered but as if on cue a magically amplified voice of a seventh year student announced that the Weird Sisters had finished and now a block of muggle music would follow to satisfy both kids from wizarding _and_ muggle households. This announcement was followed by contradictory responses – some students, mainly from wizarding families, were murmuring while some others quite welcomed the change.

"Whoa…even better." Sirius grumbled at the music choice "but I guess it'll just have to do" he said and reached for Natalie's hand "Shall we?" he asked with an exaggerated bow and Natalie chuckled, took his hand and they both headed to the dance floor.

Once there, she wrapped her hands around his neck and together, they swayed to the rythm of the muggle songs, not staying only for one but for many others. They were dancing so vehemently, that the other couples had to move not to be knocked down by the Padfoot/Swanny duo.

Once when it was only thirty seconds until midnight, the music stopped abruptly and above the stage, two blue ribbons appeared, forming the numbers and counting-down the seconds until midnight. Natalie was still standing in near proximity to Sirius as they were interrupted in dancing and made no move to pull away from each other, and they both joined the crowd to counting down. When the time was up, Natalie gave him a chaste friendly kiss, according to the tradition.

Only a few more dances followed before Professor Dumbledore send them all to their common rooms and the grumbling students shuffled to the door to the Entrance Hall.

"Well, I guess I kinda broke your big plans tonight." Natalie said when she and Sirius were making their way to the door, still hand in hand, although now it served more for the practical reasons as they wouldn't be split by the rushing crowd.

"Why would you think so?" he gave her a look.

"Well, you said you're going to comfort the dumped girls and here you were all night stuck with me."

"And what exactely do you think I"ve been doing?" he smirked at her.

"Yeah, but it surely didnt end up according to your plans. What is this?" Natalie said when they arrived to the door just to meet a huge crowd of people in front of it. They squeezed to the front to see what was going on.

"Oh, Merlin!" Natalie gasped when she saw the problem. On the stairs in the entrance Hall, there was standing James, who was in a fierce duel with Scott Berkley - the partner of Lily Evans.

"Potter! Scott! Stop it, both of you!" Lily shouted at them but neither of the boys listened to her, they were too engrossed in their duel to hear her.

"Scott, please, leave him alone and come!" she tried again but her date only shielded another jinx from James.

"Potter!" she shouted at Prongs and this time he glanced at her. But he paid dearly for the moment of distraction because a hex from Scott hit him right into his stomach and he fell backwards to the ground and gasped for breath "James!" Lily's voice now changed, she no longer sounded angry but scared, and she covered her mouth in a shocked gesture. However, Scott didn't seem to notice her reaction at all, instead he aimed another jinx at James, who was still lying on the floor.

Now it was Sirius' turn to step in. Very quickly (Natalie could almost swear that one moment he was standing next to her and then he was gone) Sirius jumped in front of his friend.

"_Protego!_" he shouted and shielded the hex that was aimed at Prongs. "How dare you, you prat?" he almost hissed and his eyes darkened.

"Step aside, Black, this is none of your business." Scott said angrily.

"Make me" he growled but immediately he had to shield another hex from Scott. In a while, they were in a fight as well but Natalie now made her way to James, carefully avoiding all hexes. Lily was already kneeling beside James.

"What's wrong with him?" Natalie asked when she saw that James was gritting his teeth, obviously in pain, not even able to talk.

"I don't know." Lily said desperately.

"He was hit into his stomach." Natalie said and with the utmost care, Lily rolled up the hem of his shirt and gasped. James' stomach was covered in painfully looking blisters which disappeared under the hem of his trousers, undoubtedly covering even his legs. Both girls looked up again when they saw that James' body was shaking but surprisingly enough, they found out he was laughing!

"Y-you…just cou- couldn't wait t-to…get me out o-of my clothes, c-could you, Evans?" he said through gritted teeth but not able to contain his laughter. But Lily didn't find the situation funny at all, right the contrary – she whacked him onto his shoulder and shot up.

"You are unbelievable prat, Potter! It was you, who started the fight while you had no right to meddle in my business and now you went as far as to ruin my evening! Urgh, I don't know why I'm even bothering!" she shouted and left, not caring about James nor the still persisting fight between Sirius and her date.

"Evans? Hey, Evans!" James was calling after her but it only brought him another wave of pain and he gritted his teeth again.

"Shit, Prongs, lay calmly, would you?" Natalie said.

"Black! Berkley!" the voice of Professor McGonagall whipped through the Entrance Hall at the same time. She was standing there with Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra and even from the distance, Natalie could see that her lips were now a white thin line as she flew her look from Scott to Sirius and finally to James lying on the ground. "Stop that right now! What are you two thinking?" she said angrily and immediately got a fiery responses from both Sirius and Scott but it got just one look from her for them both to stop at once.

"Miss Crane, what happened here?" she asked Natalie and she saw an exasperated snort from Scott.

"I- I can't say exactely, Professor. When we came we saw just how James was hit by a hex from Berkley and then Sirius shielded another hex aimed at James, who has been lying here just like this, and then Sirius got into fight with Berkley." Natalie said quickly.

"Professor, Potter attacked me! I was just walking here with my girlfriend when he-"

"That would be enough, Mr. Berkley!" McGonagall's voice cut him off "All three of you are in detention for the whole week and I'm absolutely astounded by your behaviour, especially yours, Mr. Berkley. But your possible further punishment will depend on Professor Flitwick. Now go to your common room!" she said and Scott headed to the Rawenclaw common room with grumbling.

"And you two," she pointed at Sirius and Natalie "take Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing and then _immediately_ go to your common room as well and I don't want to hear a word about you tonight, do you understand, Mr. Black? And when Mr. Potter is well enough, please kindly inform him that I have to send a letter to your parents. The rest of you, go to your common rooms, including you, Mr. Lupin!" she said to Remus, who was apparently keen on taking James to the Hospital Wing as well, and with that she left. Even the rest of the students were slowly shuffling to their common rooms. But Sirius and Remus as well made their way to James and Natalie.

"Ouch!" Sirius said when he saw the blisters on his friend's body.

"Let's get him up; I don't think he can walk by himself." Remus said and together with Padfoot, either of them took James' arms and pulled him up. Poor Prongs seemed to be barely standing and a few tears were silently streaming down his cheeks, whether it was from the pain or Lily's words, no one knew.

"Moony, you should go to the Griffindor tower." Natalie said.

"Come on, I won't let you drag him there alone." Remus said but Sirius intervened while he was putting one of his friends' arms around his neck.

"Better do, we'll manage. James and I need someone to make homework for us while we're in detention." he smirked and Remus smirked back.

"Just go, we'll tell you how he is." Natalie promised and now she wrapped James' arm around her neck as well. Remus listened to them and left to the common room while Natalie and Sirius began their slow way to Hospital Wing. Neither of them was speaking for it seemed that James was getting heavier and heavier as his dead weight was resting on their shoulders, but they knew they couldn't expect any help from him. Although he was conscious, he seemed to be out of his mind.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, they arrived to the Hospital Wing and when Sirius banged on the door, it opened and Madame Pomfrey was standing in the doorway in her dressing gown.

"What did you two get into now?" she just said and ushered them inside, where they put James on one of the beds.

"He was a little hexed." Sirius explained but Madame Pomfrey was already shoving him out of her way. When she saw the blisters, she just clicked her tongue.

"Will you two ever learn?" she said, obviously exasperated "get him out of his trousers." she said while she was making her way to her office.

"What?" both Sirius and Natalie cried in unison.

"You heard. His trousers. This blisters need an ointment, you expect me to apply it through his trousers?" she barked and disappeared in her office. Sirius and Natalie gave each other a quizzical look but when Natalie's look hardened and she mutely shook her head, Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed but he walked to the bed and a little awkwardly got James out of his clothes.

"You so owe me, Prongs." he said to his friend, who, however, didn't seem to hear him at all.

"Why isn't he responding?" Natalie asked when Madame Pomfrey came back with the ointment.

"He is in shock." she said simply.

"But he was alright. Right after he was hit he was alright." Natalie said.

"I don't know what happened there. But it doesn't have to be a shock from his injury, although it seems as the most probable possibility. Now, if you were so kind and left, I need to tend my patient and he needs to be in quiet." she said and shooed them out. For a while, they were just standing helplessly in front of the door, not sure what they should do.

"Come on, let's go." Sirius finally said and Natalie nodded wordlessly and followed him.

"Are you alright?" she asked him then.

"I'm fine. Some evening, huh?"

"Yeah. But if you think about it, it's rather typical." she smiled.

"What is?"

"The first thing you and James did in the New Year was getting yourself into detention." Natalie chuckled and Sirius joined her.

"We have to keep our record." he said but then Natalie stopped smiling again.

"Do you think he'll be fine?" she asked with concern and Sirius shrugged.

"Sure, Poppy will heal him in a blink."

"I didn't mean this. I ment about what Lily told him."

"Oh, that. I don't know. But I don't reckon there's something we can do about it because until Prongs starts to act like an adult, she won't come anywhere near him, least talk to him decently."

"Poor James." Natalie sighed when they came to the Fat Lady and told her the password "and my poor feet. I can't wait to get out of this shoes." she whined when they came into the vacant common room.

"So…" she said when they came to the two staircases, which were leading to their dormitories "thank you for a wonderful evening. I had a great time." she said and smiled at him coyly and Sirius laughed.

"Oh, come on, Swanny, don't get all sentimental on me. It was just a few dances. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow." he said then.

"Certainly. Good night." she said and with a last smile, she headed upstairs, but unbeknown to her, Padfoot was watching her until she disappeared behind the door to her dorm.

END OF FLASHBACK

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**So, there you go. A little flashback this time. Poor James...but Sirius and Natalie finally seem to hit it off, yay:) What do you think?**


	10. Good Times, Bad Times

**Another one up! This one's shorter but I hope to post another one soon. I also would like to thank to those who had post a review so far, you guys are great.**

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Next week was spent in bliss for both Sirius and Natalie. Although they were still both very alert to the things going on out there, they were enjoying each other's company even more than before (if it was even possible). Now they knew how stupid had they been for not getting together sooner and they were trying to compensate every minute.

Right now, they were sitting in the small cozy living room which was decorated by Natalie's meticulous hand. Sirius was seated on the sofa, thoughtfully staring at a chessboard while Natalie was sitting cross-legged on the small table on the other side of the board and she was now grinning wickedly. It wasn't every day that someone beat Sirius in chess and although she had a suspicion he was letting her win, she was enjoying it immensely.

"Don't know?" she asked in sing-song voice but Sirius didn't answer, he just raised his hand to silence her. But then his eyes lit up.

"A-ha. Bishop on H3." he ordered to the chess-man who immediately did as he was told, although grumbling and threatening with riot. But when he got to H3, he shut up because he had to fight with Natalie's knight, who, after a long struggle, finally went down. "Now, this calls for a reward." Sirius smirked and tipped his lips. Natalie just rolled her eyes mockingly and gave him a kiss. They were playing a chess-variant of Spin the bottle – when someone's chess-man was killed, they had to kiss the opponent and the winner would get a back rub. Suddenly, their kiss was interrupted by scratching on the window. Sirius and Natalie quickly pulled away and Buckbeak lazily raised his head, all of them wondering about the source of the sound. But immediately, the couple saw a snowy white owl behind the window.

They both sprung up from their places and made their way to the window. As soon as they got up, all of the chess-men on the board left their places and rushed away from the board.

"Hey! That's a revolt! Get back, all of you!" Natalie cried when she noticed the riot but none of the tiny men listened to her. Natalie gave up and rather joined Sirius, who had just untied the parchment from Hedwig's talon.

"What's he saying?" Natalie asked, curious to know the content of their Godson's letter.

Sirius sat down to the table, unfolded the parchment and read aloud, a crease appeared between his eyebrows as he was worried what the answer would be.

_Dear Sirius,_

_I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting, I was half asleep when I wrote to you last time. There's no point coming back, everything's fine here. Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal._

_Harry_

"Poor boy, he's worried about you." Natalie noted.

"Yeah, I guess when I wrote to him last time I _might_ have sounded a little bit-"

"Scared?" Natalie offered with a smile.

"Concerned." Sirius corrected her "But you're right, he surely sounds as if he's trying to keep me out of the way."

"Out of _harm_'s way." Natalie said and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, giving him a soft kiss in the process. At that, Sirius tilted his head so the kiss was planted on his mouth instead. From what Nat had ment to be just a short sweet kiss became a long heated making out session, during which Natalie moved to sit on his lap and buried her fingers into his longish black hair.

"Hey." she said after a while but she was cut off by another kiss and who was she to resist? But when the need of oxigen was inevitable and they finally parted, she put a finger over his lips when he wanted to kiss her yet again "you should answer to Harry. He's expecting you to answer him immediately."

"Do you think he would mind five more minutes?" he asked.

"Maybe he wouldn't but Hedwig would." Natalie nodded to the big owl which was still sitting at the same spot and was looking at us with yellow expectant eyes.

"And what do I get if I do that?" he asked with a flirty look.

Natalie just smiled mysteriously and leaned closer so she could whisper her answer into his ear "a nice walk around Hogsmead, I'm tired of just sitting aroun all day long." she whispered, then chuckled and got up abruptly.

"You're mean." Sirius pouted mockingly but took a quill and a piece of parchment. In the meantime, Natalie gave Hedwig water and some Owl treats. Every now and then Sirius' muttering could be heard.

"Nah, that sounds lame." he grumbled and crossed the last sentence he had just written. Natalie giggled at how precise the always-reckless man could get.

"Got it." Sirius said finally and put his quill down. Natalie leaned over his shoulder to read his answer.

"Sounds good. Now, come on, send it and let's go out." she nudged him and went to get her cloak.

Before they left Sirius, who went a little reluctantly, turned into his Animagus form so it was looking as if Natalie was walking her dog. They were going out quite often and Sirius was grateful that he didn't have to be stuck inside all the time. As always, they got newspaper to be posted on everything and then some food as well – Natalie just couldn't do without a chocolate from the Honey Dukes.

The wetter was getting worse and worse as it was nearing the end of October. One week Natalie even went down with a nasty case of cold. She was lucky to have Sirius to take care of her – she was and always had been a horrible patient. But luckily, she managed to get back to her old-self before 30 October. On this day, the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were supposed to arrive at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore had come from time to time to talk to them, especially to tell her about her new responsibilities. From this day on, she was to be patrolling the corridors at Hogwarts every night. At Dumbledore's request however, she was not to be seen by anyone, except Mad-eye Moody, who would be patrolling the hallways as well. So every evening, Natalie took her Animagus form, not feeling like walking the whole distance between Hogsmead and Hogwarts, and at nights she was patrolling the dark corridors of once-so-familiar castle.

Natalie had always hated Halloween. Well, not always, but since certain Halloween 1981, when her life had crumbled around her, she despised this evening. On this day, she was always grim and sullen, so much different from her usual-self. Usually she closed herself at her house, not caring of whatever job or friends were expecting her, and wouldn't talk to anyone. This year, however, she couldn't. Not that she was merry or cheerful (right the contrary) but she couldn't just avoid people. For one, Sirius was there as well, and he was the person that you just couldn't very well avoid, for he seemed to be everywhere. He himself was grim as well and didn't even need to ask Natalie about her sudden change of demeanour. He knew better than asking. And then, Natalie had her responsibilities to attend. Of course, she wouldn't meet anyone during this task but she just couldn't spend the night isolated. Not surprisingly, this Halloween didn't do much for her to like it better. Right the contrary.

During the Halloween feast, Natalie was secretively standing in the darkest corner of the Great Hall, not noticed by anyone but Mad-Eye Moody, who gave her one of his slightly scary grins; but since he had been her mentor, Natalie was used to them and just grinned back. No matter the circumstances, she was ecstatic to be back at Hogwarts. When she was watching the cheerful chattering students, she remembered her own years at school yet again. How had she loved these feasts, especially the wide variety of ice creams. But now she didn't have time to reminisce, she had to be alert. Once again, she looked to the staff table and found Karkaroff there. She grimaced when she saw his unsincere smile and icy look as he was talking to Ludo Bagman. Then she slid her look to another seat and for a while watched another wizard with greasy black hair, dressed in a dark robes. Severus Snape. Her eyes flashed at the look of him, she couldn't stand him even before the "incident" with Sirius and Remus a few months ago. But as she was watching him, he suddenly looked up and their eyes met. Immediately, he got a nasty sneer on his face as he rolled up his upper lip to show his yellowish teeth to the whole Great Hall. Even Natalie persisted with her look, silently challenging him. But then, as suddenly as he had looked at her, he moved his look and looked a few seats from him, where Albus Dumbledore was sitting. The old wizard was also looking at him, giving him a warning look. Dumbledore had informed all the Hogwarts teachers about Natalie's presence at school and told them about the importance of noone else knowing about her. If Snape was giving his murderous look to someone else than his unfavourite students, she could be revealed.

The whole evening passed rather uneventfully for Natalie, but the rest of school was excited about the pronouncing of the three champions. Natalie was rather reserved to this whole action. She thought the same as about the Quidditch World Cup – the officials should tend to things of more importance than the Triwizard Cup (like the recent appearance of Death Eaters). That was until the Goblet of Fire lit up for the fourth time, which got even Natalie's full interrest. And finally, when Dumbledore read the name of her friend's son, she was completly stunned, as well as the rest of the school. At that time, she decided that there was a point in hating the Halloween. With wide eyes, she watched as her fourteen-year-old Godson, (still with the same thin and short figure, she noted) made his way to the staff table and then to the adjoining room. The whole Great Hall was now buzzing as the teachers, together with Crouch and Bagman went to the adjoining room as well. After a short look at Moody, who was getting up himself, she decided to join him.

"Bloody curious events, huh, Crane?" he huffed when she joined him, still not noticed by anyone of the students for they were excitedly talking to each other.

"Certainly." she answered nervously.

"We'd better stay out o' things for now, you especially, Crane." he said when they arrived to the door so Natalie followed the example of her mentor and stayed with him in the doorway, just watching the course of events. The whole talk between the teachers was so predictable it was almost riddiculous. Almost. The two foreign teachers were claiming for it to be an injustice, then blaming Harry (who else than Snape), then Dumbledore, then Harry again and finally Karkaroff threatened to leave with his champion. At that, Moody finally stepped in but Natalie listened to her mentor's "order" and stayed away. When Moody expressed his thoughts that Harry's name had been put into the Goblet by someone who intended to kill him, she took in a sharp breath. Of course this was her first thought but hearing it said aloud made it much more real. When it was cleared, that Harry would be competing as well, her heart sank. She still hoped that he would somehow get out of it, although she knew that it was impossible. No one could avoid competing once his name was chosen by the Goblet of Fire. Then she just listened to the instructions which Crouch gave to the champions, made a mental note when the first task would be taking place and then decided to leave before the others did and spotted her. But just as she was about to leave, her look fell on Harry one last time and to her utmost shock, he just flew his look around the room, over her as well. He didn't seem to register her but she didn't wait for him to do so and she quickly fled.

Harry was a little absentmindly listening to Crouch's instruction. Of course, the informations about the first task were important but at first, he was taken aback by Crouch's ill looks, and then his thoughts turned to Moody's words. Was someone really trying to hurt him? Well, _someone_ definitely, but how could Voldemort manage to get his name into the Goblet of Fire? _Well, he could_, Harry thought gravely. _But with Dumbledore in school and now even Moody…_ once again he slid his look to Moody. He looked scary as always but wait- was it… he took a double take at the door but then he shook his head. For a while, he thought he saw a strange woman standing there but when he looked there again, he saw no one. _Probably just tired_…he thought and turned his attention back to Crouch.

Natalie didn't want to linger more than she had to, she desperately needed to talk to Sirius, but first she had to wait to talk to Dumbledore. She hid in the darkest corner in the Entrance Hall; the rest of the students had already gone to bed, and she just had to wait until the champions would go as well. Finally, Harry and Cedric appeared in the Entrance Hall and after a short talk, they parted their ways, both heading to their common rooms. Natalie just watched Harry disappear on the staircase before she went to find Dumbledore. The talk was very short. Basically, Dumbledore told her that now she couldn't do anything to protect the young Potter and that he would let her know when she was needed at school. With that, he bid her goodnight and sent her home.

Natalie listened to his order immediately and quietly she slid out of the heavy door. After she made sure no one was watching, especially a certain Drumstrang Headmaster, she turned into a crane and flew away in direction of Hogsmead.

Never in her life had she flown as fast as she had now, as if she was racing the time to be at home before sunrise. It was still dark when she finally arrived to Hogsmead, immediately heading for their house. As a child, she had always wondered how it was possible for birds to crash into windows or walls but now, in her speed, her wings just couldn't stop flapping even as she started to descend. Only by a sheer luck, she stopped right before her beak collided with the wooden door of their cottage and for a crane, she landed a bit ungracefully. Not wanting to turn into her human shape outside, altough she was covered by darkness, she tapped with her beak onto the door a prearranged signal, knowing Sirius would be very much awake. These days he had been having trouble sleeping (just as she had), and very often they just didn't turn into bed at all and instead they stayed in the living room, sitting on the sofa and staring into the flames in the fireplace. She knew that was the place he would occupy tonight, waiting for her to get back from her patrol. Almost immediately, she heard heavy footsteps behind the door and in a while, the door cracked open, letting her in. She got in, still in her Animagus form. As soon as Sirius closed the door behind her, she turned back but she stayed sitting on the floor with her back leaning against the door and she was breathing heavily.

In a matter of seconds, Sirius was at her side, sensing something was wrong.

"Nat? Nat, what happened?" he pressed on but Natalie couldn't speak because she was still short of breath.

"The Goblet-" _pant_ "he's- he's" _pant_ "the-" _pant_ "fourth champion" she managed to breathe out.

"What? Who's the- NO!" he exclaimed when it dawned on him. "How- how- he can't be-"

"He is." Natalie said curtly, attempting to get up. Sirius, seeing her trouble, gently lifted her onto her feet and led her to the sofa. In a while, he fetched a glass of Firewhisky for her and only after Natalie drained it she was able to talk again in full sentences.

"The Goblet of Fire chose _four_ champions, Sirius. Harry now has to compete."

"I don't get it." Sirius said with a frown. "Dumbledore talked about precautions, how could Harry's name get into the Goblet of Fire?"

„No one knows. But acording to Mad-Eye someone threw Harry's name into the Goblet in order to hurt him during the Triwizard Cup, knowing he will have to participate."

"I agree." Sirius snarled and got up and began pacing around the room while Natalie was just staring into the flames and absentmindly swayed the now empty glass in her hands. "My first guess would be Karkaroff."

For a while Natalie didn't even seem to hear him, she actually seemed lost in her own world, but after a while of contemplation, she finally replied deliberately. "Maybe…strange, I would consider him to be too much of a coward to do such a thing right under Dumbledore's nose…but who else could get into the castle?" she pondered.

"There are ways, you know that." Sirius pointed out.

A frown creeped into Natalie's face more and more. It was almost strange to see her frowning, at least for Sirius. He didn't remember her to do often; she used to be like sunshine at school. Then he noticed that her hands were shaking and she was bitting down her lip.

"Nat? What's wrong?" he asked her and came over to the sofa but she didn't even looked up at him.

"What's wrong? You're asking what's wrong?" she asked in emotionless voice "What's wrong is that there's most likely a Deat Eater in Hogwarts with our Godson and we can't do a thing about that."

A frown came over Sirius face as well and his tone hardened.

"I know _that_. I ment what's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked dully and Sirius snorted.

"Come on, I know you well. You were an Auror, you would be able to keep your head cool."

"In case you forgot this is about our Godson." Natalie said, still looking at the floor and Sirius now wondered that a blood wasn't trickling down from her lower lip from how hard was she bitting into it. He was just taking a breath to answer when her expression suddenly changed; her face contorted and gave one big sob as a few tears fell out of her eyes. As Sirius saw her, his expression softened and he quickly sat down next to her and pulled her close. As if this motion was a cue for Natalie, she began sobbing harder and clung to his shirt.

Sirius had never been good with crying women; he had always thought of women's sensitivity as their only negative and had never been comfortable around crying women. But this time was different. Not that he was uncomfortable with crying Natalie in his arms but it was literally ripping his heart out to see her like this. In the same time, however, he found out that he knew what to do and for a good half an hour he was whispering sweet nothings into her ear until she calmed down a bit.

"It's- It's all my fault." Natalie sniffed when she calmed enough to speak.

"No, it's not. Don't think like that." he said and wiped another tear from her cheek.

"It is. I was supposed to see that nothing like this happened, that's why Dumbledore wanted me to be here in the first place. I haven't done a good job so far considering it's only the first day of the Cup."

"You were doing what you could. You were there, patrolling and I know you did your best."

"Oh Merlin, I'm so stupid." Natalie sniffed again. "I just thought that with Moody roaming around, the Goblet of Fire would be safe enough so I went patrolling into another corridors, especially around the Griffindor tower. I met him and he said he would watch out for the Goblet."

"See? If even Moody didn't manage to keep it safe, it wasn't your fault. I would have done the same." Sirius tried to soothe her but it didn't help much because she began sniffing again.

"Oh my, I'm such a bad Godmother. First I leave Harry with Muggles just because Dumbledore says I'm not fit enough and that Harry won't be safe anywhere but with his relatives, then I haven't even written him any letter and now I got him into danger-" she was sobbing again but Sirius cut her off by lying his fingers over her lips

"Shhh. None of this, did what you thought was best for Harry, that doesn't make you a bad Godmother. And for the second time – today it wasn't your fault. If it was someone's fault than Voldemort's."

At that, Natalie didn't answer, she just nodded and sighed but at least she wasn't crying anymore. She was too exhausted to cry so she just sat there, still snuggled into her lover's chest and stared into the flames.

"I'm sorry." she said then quietly.

"What for?" Sirius asked, gently took her chin and made her look at him.

"For...you know, losing it like that. Usually I don't bury myself in self-pity."

"I know don't. Are you alright now?"

"As alright as I can be, considering the situation." she answered and Sirius nodded. Then he kissed her forehead tenderly.

"Come on, let's get you to bed." he said and helped her onto her feet and with his arm around her shoulders he led her to her bedroom. But when Natalie entered her bedroom and saw that Sirius was about to leave, she suddenly caught his hand to prevent it.

"Stay with me." she said and Sirius raised his eyebrows. As astonishing as it sounded for Sirius Black, the former Hogwarts playboy, he and Natalie had never done more than making out on the couch. Although they knew they had lost a lot of time they could have been together, they just hadn't taken this step yet, maybe because they had been friends for such a long time and it would change their friendship into something irreversible.

"Nat, you- you're sure you want to-"

"Yes, I need you tonight." she whispered and pulled him back into her room and it didn't take her much effort. As soon as the door closed behind them, which was rather useless since they were the only one living in the house (not counting Buckbeak), they began kissing and slowly making their way to the four poster bed, parts of their clothes landing on the floor in the process.

"Blossom?" Sirius said between kisses and tried to pull away as they were lying half-naked on the bed, but Natalie kissed him hungrily again. "Blossom, wait." he whispered when he pulled away again, although very reluctantly. Natalie now pulled away slightly as well and questioningly looked into his eyes "You know, it's- it's been a while since I-"

"Shhh" she cut him off with a quick kiss "It's been a while for me, too." she said and caressed his cheek. It was very strange to see him this fragile, stuttering over words.

Sirius closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. It had been too long since someone touched him like this, indeed. He sighed and then kissed her palm and then he progressed down her arm until he got to her bare shouler and neck.

"You're sure about this?" he asked again. At that, Natalie took his face into her hands and brought his head up so she could look into his eyes.

"I've never been so sure about anything like this. You're not?"

"Blossom, you have no idea how I want you." he said and got back to kissing her neck…

"That was weird Halloween." Natalie said, when in the morning they were lying in her bed, just wrapped in the blankets. She had her head on Sirius' chest and enjoyed the feeling to be wrapped in his arms.

Sirius snorted a bit "Even though the events, it still was the best Halloween in thirteen years."

"Certainly."

"Blossom?" Sirius asked.

"Hmm?" Natalie was almost asleep.

"I love you"

"I love you, too." Natalie said in the same sleepy voice and immediately fell into deep slumber.

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**So, that's about it. Sappy, huh? Review please:)**


	11. On with the show

**Hello! Another chappie up. This one's not that long but I'm already working on another to compensate it. I hope you enjoy it**

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The letter from Harry came right next evening. Had Sirius not heard about the last night's events beforehand, this message from his Godson would have given him a nice shock and many other sleepless nights spent by thinking. But now he already knew what to answer to his Godson. Sirius and Natalie had already talked and decided to tell Harry about Karkaroff personally. Thus, Sirius asked Harry to be on November 22 alone in the Griffindor tower so they could talk. Despite Natalie's slight protests, Sirius decided to use the Floo network.

But strangely, the time until the 22nd seemed to slow down. Every day, Sirius and Natalie were watching the Daily Prophet very closely but they still found nothing except the offensive articles of Rita Skeeter about Harry. When Sirius read the first article about Harry, he angrily slammed the paper on the table and for the rest of the day threatened to go find Rita and strangle her with his bare hands. Fortunately, Natalie was able to talk him out of it, although she was more than tempted to join him – the articles made her stomach churn and she couldn't even imagine how Harry was feeling. For a few times, Remus stopped by, especially after he had read the articles himself, and with him they discussed the Karkaroff-topic again. He also brought Natalie her cat and dog, for which she was more than grateful.

Finally, November 22 came and Sirius was nervously walking around the cottage, counting down the minutes to one o'clock. Natalie was nervously sitting on a chair, bitting her lower lip. She desperately wanted to talk to Harry as well but she knew this would have only made things more complicated right now. Sirius and Harry would barely have the time to talk about Karkaroff, let alone that Harry now had other things to worry about.

"How long?" Sirius asked anxiously and Natalie sighed.

"Exactely two minutes less than when you asked me last time." she said and Sirius grinned sheepishly.

When it was finally time for Sirius to firecall Harry, he eagerly took a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fire.

When Harry kneeled down in front of the fire and Sirius could see his face after several months, he was almost startled at how weary his godson's face looked. He looked as if he hadn't slept peacefully in several days and not eaten either. Sirius' stomach churned when he imagined what his Godson must have been going through; what he already _had_ gone through. And still, Harry was worried about _him_. Sirius rather didn't mention the articles in Daily Prophet to Harry because there still was a real danger he would immediately decide to go after Rita Skeeter again. He was even a bit startled, when Harry told him about dragons but tellling Harry about Karkaroff was more important now (although he hated to worry his Godson even more). But there was something to be worried and he figured that Harry was better knowing about it. But truthfully, right now Harry was more concerned about the First Task.

Natalie was kneeling next to the fireplace, from which now was sticking Sirius' lower part of body, and she listened to the muffled talk between her lover and godson.

"Padfoot? Tell him about those dragons!" she said loudly so he could hear her even when he practically had his head in Hogwarts right now. Sirius seemed to hear her since he moved onto the dragon-topic. But suddenly, he quickly jerked away from the fireplace, spilling some soot on the floor. But this time Natalie could care less.

"What happened?" she asked immediately, neither of them bothering to get up from the floor.

"Someone almost caught us." Sirius said angrily "Hell, just when I was about to tell him about the spell!"

"Maybe we could send him an owl." Natalie suggested but Sirius shook his head impatiently.

"Before some stupid owl makes it to Hogwarts, the First task will be over. Besides, we owl Harry a lot, it could get suspicious." He said grimly and Natalie had to admit he was right. In the meantime, Sirius got up and went to pour a glass of Firewhisky while Natalie stayed sitting next to the fireplace dejectedly. But suddenly, Natalie lit up with an idea and looked up with hope.

"Sirius? We don't have to send the letter by an owl." she said with a small smile and Sirius gave her a curious look over the brim of his glass. Natalie sighed with exasperation at his thickness and pointed at herself. Finally, Sirius seemed to get the point as he gave Swanny an amused smile. Without hesitation, he ran to the desk and quickly scribbled a messy note, telling Harry everything he would need to know about the Conjunctivus Spell.

"Done?" Natalie asked impatiently and Sirius nodded and came over to her.

"Just be careful." he said and Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't be intercepted." she said with a grin and was about to transform when Sirius stopped her.

"Wait." he said quickly.

"What?" Natalie raised her eyebrows.

"This." Sirius said and gave her a tender kiss.

"Oh." Natalie smiled when he pulled back "Don't worry." she said then, transformed into a crane, and took the note into its beak from Sirius' hand. He had to grin when he saw the crane's expression; he could have sworn it was rolling its eyes on him. Then opened the window and with a graceful move Swanny flew into the darkness outside, not forgetting to smack Sirius head with her wing jokingly.

Harry was walking with Hermione around the lake again, telling her about the talk with Sirius. He told her everything what Sirius had told him about Karkaroff, and also about his nocturnal adventure with dragons. Hermione was shocked when he told her what the First task was supposed to be.

"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening and then we can worry about Karkaroff." She said to Harry. While walking around the lake, they were trying to come up a simple spell which could work but not even Hermione knew how to get past a dragon. So they decided to go to the library. As they were making way through the castle to the library, they suddenly heard a weird knocking. Harry abruptly turned around and found out that it was coming from a window. He opened it and couldn't believe his eyes. There, on the windowsill, was sitting a strange bird. It was huge, with a black tail and neck and the top of its head was red. Even Hermione looked astonished.

"This is a Red-crowned crane!" she exclaimed "This species doesn't live in Britain."

"Well, one apparently does but…wait, is it carrying a letter?" Harry frowned slightly when he saw a roll of parchment in its beak. It seemed almost unbelievable to him that such a graceful-looking bird would carry mail but then he remembered those colourful birds that Sirius had sent him over the summer and thought that nothing was impossible. Maybe some crazy wizards were using cranes to send letters… However, he was surprised when it held its head to him to take the letter.

"Who, on earth, would send you a crane with a letter?" Hermione wondered.

"Someone could. Sirius was sending me letters after huge parrots this summer." He said and a little cautiously approached the weird bird in front of him and took the piece of parchment from its beak.

"It´s from Sirius." he said eagerly in a muffled voice so no one would overhear him and Hermione curiously peered over his shoulder and silently read the message herself. When she read about the spell Sirius was reccommending, she slightly hissed "I'm so stupid" she whispered in barely hearable voice. Harry himself wasn't saying anything, although he didn't think of her as stupid at all; on the contrary, the fact she even knew this spell made her cleverer than most of the seventh years. But he still was too engrossed in the brief note he had recieved to contradict her. The fact, that Sirius cared about him and his safety so much that he was risking everything (even more than his life) made his chest swell with a strange feeling of belonging. Now he turned to the crane again.

"Thank you." he said and lightly carressed the plumage on its neck. "Just wait a minute, I'll write him an answer."

Harry quickly pulled out his quill from his bag and began scribbling the short note of thanks. When he finished, he scrolled the note and held it to the crane to take it. The big bird pecked him slightly onto his shoulder and flew away through the open window.

"Let's go, Harry. We have to go to the library to look at the spell."

"Yeah." Harry said and reluctantly took his eyes from the retreating form of bird on the grey sky. "Yeah, let's go."

However, Harry wasn't as lucky with the spell. Although Sirius had said was a rather easy spell, Harry had spent the whole Sunday in an empty classroom practicing but couldn't manage anymore than a shower of purple sparks.

"You're just not concentrating." Hermione said, annoyance hearable in her voice. It was already mid-afternoon and a stream of purple sparks had just flown above her head.

"Oh, yeah?" Harry said, sarcasm dripping of his voice. "I wonder why…"

"Harry, I'm trying to help you so stop taking it out on me"

"Sorry." Harry said, immediately ashamed of himself. Hermione ment well and all he was doing today was giving her hard time with his mood swings. Although it wasn't completly his fault, '_Everyone would be exasperated,'_ he thought.

"That's alright. Let's try again." she said patiently. Harry sighed and raised his wand once again. This time he managed a stream of pink sparks but nothing what would even remotely resemble the Conjunctivus Spell.

"Harry, we should go to bed." Hermione said when it was way after midnight. "There's no point in practicing when we both can barely stand." she pointed out and Harry nodded, too tired to disagree.

_Dear Sirius, _

_Thank you for the advice, you'__ve just probably saved my life. Not even Hermione was able to think of this spel. Yesterday, it was Ron going down the stairs._

_Hope you'__re alright. Say Hello to Buckbeak._

_Harry_

_P.S. Where do you get all those strange birds? They're cool._

When Sirius read the short message from his Godson, he laughed with his bark-like laughter.

"What is it?" Natalie, who was sitting in an armchair and resting, raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"Harry thinks you're cool." he said, his voice still full of amusement.

"Oh, does he? Glad I don't seem old and awkward to him." she joked "But maybe after seeing my human form he would change his mind."

"That's not true. No one would ever think of you as old or awkward." Sirius said and Natalie snorted.

"He's a teenager. Everyone above twenty seems old and awkward to him."

"Well," Sirius said with a strange smile, came over to the Natalie's armchair, and sat down on the armrest. "I, for one, think you look the same as those thirteen years ago." he said and Natalie smiled sweetly.

"Well, thank you. That's what women want to hear." she responded jokingly. She was glad to see this side of Sirius again.

"Do I get a treat?" he smiled cheekily and Natalie seemed to ponder his question, putting her finger on her chin.

"Oh, I don't know…let's see, will this do?" she asked and kissed him sweetly on his lips.

"Well, hardly." Sirius' grin grew when they pulled away, although it was a long kiss.

"And this?" she asked and gave him another, this time even more heated, kiss, exploring all the corners of his mouth with her tongue while battling his own.

"Still not what I have in mind." Sirius said then, breathing heavily.

"And what have you in mind, Mr. Black?" Natalie asked, playing innocent.

"Let me show you." he said, his voice suddenly husky, and he gave her a hard kiss. In a while, they were making out like two teenagers, as if they wanted to catch up what they had missed when they had been at school. Natalie was slumped over the armrest of the armchair, and only Sirius's arms wrapped around her were holding her from sliding down. Still, neither of them was willing to break the kiss, as it was getting more and more heated. Sirius was lying on top of her, holding her tightly, with her legs wrapped around his waist. But just as he moved his lips to her neck and collarbone while his hand sneaked under her shirt, she reluctantly pulled away.

"Sir- Sirius wait." she said huskily and breathed heavily.

"What is it?" he asked, confusion evident on his face, as well as impatience.

"We can't do it here."

"Why not?" Sirius arched his eyebrow.

"Because of Buckbeak." she said and nodded her head to the Hippogriff, which was lying on the rug in front of the fireplace.

"What about Buckbeak?"

"Well, we can't do it in front of him." Natalie said and shot him a look which was clearly saying she was thinking he was crazy.

"Nat, I'm sure he's already seen plenty of things in his life." he said jokingly and was about to kiss her neck again but Natalie was quicker and put her hand over his lips.

"I'm not worried about Buckbeak's innocence, you git. _I_ won't do it in front of him."

"Why not?" Sirius asked incredulously and Natalie rolled her eyes.

"I won't do it in front of anything what could watch us. It would be perverted."

"The things I do for you…" Sirius mocked an exasperated sigh. Reluctantly he got up from his sprawled possition on Natalie's body and without any warning, he grabbed her into his arms. At that Natalie let out a surprised yelp but Sirius only chuckled at that and carried her out of the sitting room.

Natalie was puzzled when he missed the bedroom door "Where are you-" But then the realization dawned on her when he headed to the bathroom…The truth was that Sirius and Natalie turned in very, very late that night. And even in bed, they did many things except sleeping. No wonder that the next day they woke up in mid-afternoon.

But as the day of Harry's first task was approaching, the mood in their cottage was deteriorating. On the contrary, both of them were anxious and nervous. Sirius was walking around the cottage like a caged animal while Natalie was preparing for her patrol in Hogwarts. For the whole day, Sirius was grumbling and complaining about staying put while both his Godson and lover might be facing a grave danger. Despite the knowledge that Nat could handle a dragon even blindfolded and that he had helped Harry as much as he could have, he had to admit that he, Sirius Black, was a bundle of nerves. However, Natalie wasn't any better. Everyone could tell she was nervous. For the whole day, she was jumpy, instantly dropping things and her hands were shaking. Neither of them dared to guess how Harry must be feeling.

However, on the day of the first task, it was as if Natalie's courage flowed back with a new strength. That day, she suddenly seemed like an Auror again – her eyes were glistening and her hand with her wand wasn't shaking even a little. Sirius remembered this peculiar characteristic of hers, even from thirteen years ago. She always seemed so sweet that she looked almost fragile and never bothered to hide her fear before battle. During their Auror training she always used to be scolded by their mentors for being scared and nervous (Sirius even recalled an incident when Mad-Eye Moody had been yelling at her when he had noticed her shaking hands) But when it came to the battle, Natalie always, as if miraculously, calmed down and people would hardly find a better Auror. She had always taken her opponents down with cold head, not hesitating even for a minute to do what needed to be done. Although she never prefered to use an Unforgivable Curse, she would go for that option any time if necessary.

In the morning of the First Task, Natalie got up early since she had a meeting with Dumbledore before the beginning of the Task.

"Sirius, promise me you won't do anything stupid." she worried as she was putting on her black cloak, although she would go to Hogwarts in her Animagus form.

"Like what?" Sirius asked while he was leaning against the doorframe, watching her with furrowed eyebrows. At that, Natalie sighed. The whole last day, they were arguing whether Sirius would go to Hogwarts as well or not.

"Like sneak to Hogwarts by yourself." Natalie said sharply as she was already tired of this conversation but knew it needed to be discussed anyway. Sirius just sighed and looked away and that gave Natalie the hint that it was exactely his intention. "Sirius…" she whined.

"Fine." he muttered, still not looking at her. Natalie's expression suddenly saddened and she made her way to him and put her hands on his chest. Just this gesture made him look at her and into her sad blue-green eyes.

"I promise I'll let you know as soon as possible. I'll send you a Patronus; just stay here, darling, please."

Sirius sighed again. This was a kind of emotional blackmail. How could anyone say no to her? "Alright. I will." he said, still a bit reluctantly but sincerely this time and Natalie gave him small smile. "And you be careful, love, understand?" he said and cupped her face with his hands

"It's just a dragon and one lousy Death Eater." she said and Sirius chuckled despite himself and swept away a strand of hair out of Natalie's forehead, pulling it behind her ear. Then he gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too. Hold on." she said then, caressing his slightly stubbly cheek before pulling away from him and heading to the window.

"And remember – constant vigilance." Sirius said with a grin and Natalie grinned back.

"Stop that, I've got Moody there for this." she said. Then she gave him a slight wave and turned into the crane again. Sirius opened the window for her and in mere seconds, the crane was gone.

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**So, that's it for tonight. I seem to end every chapter by a fluffy scene...Well, I hope you liked it. Stay tuned for next time;)**


	12. Street Fighting Man

**So here is another chapter, as promised:) Btw: Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you like it.**

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"Constant vigilance." Natalie huffed with annoyance. She was standing on a platform on Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. She was in the highest row in the back, right across from the jury so she had a nice view on Karkaroff. He didn't seem to do anything what would resemble Dark magic and when it was Harry's turn to fight the dragon, Natalie found it harder and harder to keep an eye on the supposed Death Eater than at her godson. As she was watching Harry flying on his Firebolt around the dragon, she was bitting at her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. The crowd around her was cheering and screaming but Natalie didn't join them. Before the first task, Dumbledore had instructed her not to draw any attention to herself, it was best if Karkaroff didn't have any idea she was there.

Right in the middle of Harry's performance, she moved downstairs, although reluctantly since she didn't want to take her eyes off Harry, and creeped behind the tent. Carefully, she peeked inside through the flap and saw that Durmstrang champion was not there. Suddenly, her heart began beating faster and she quickly made her way to the pitch again, around the tent; and was about to look for Victor Krum, when she saw him at the entrance to the tent. He was standing, arms crossed on his chest, and was watching Harry intently but didn't do anything suspicious. However, Natalie decided not to take any risk so she stayed on her spot, where she could see both Harry and Krum; plus Krum was turned his back to her and was standing a several steps in front of her so there wasn't any danger of him spotting her.

Finally, finally, Harry managed to get the golden egg and the First task ended. Natalie let out a breath when her godson landed safely on the ground, with only a minor injury. But after a short talk with Professor McGonagall, he headed to the medical tent, at which Natalie was standing (and she noticed that Krum suddenly disappeared inside) and she had to move quickly so Harry wouldn't see her. She went a few yards away from the pitch and stopped just at the edge of the Forbidden Forest where no one would see nor hear her. There Natalie pulled out her wand.

"Expecto Patronum." she exclaimed while concentrating on the memory of her and Sirius making love for the first time. A huge animal sprang out of her wand and stopped in front of her. Natalie took in the appearence of her Patronus, although she had seen it hundred of times already – it was a huge silver shaggy dog. Even though her Patronus had this shape for more than a decade, she still blushed slightly like a teenager. She remembered when her Patronus took this form; it was in her sixth year, just a few weeks after the New Year ball.

FLASHBACK

Natalie was walking down the corridor, happily chatting with Lily Evans. Today, she decided to part from the boys for a while to have a chat with her other friend, who (although they shared the dormitory) she didn't get to talk to nearly enough. Besides, James was all for it, seeing she would be able to get some informations from Lily. Needless to say, after that enormous fight at the ball, James seemed to cool down a bit and when Lily had to talk to him, she treated him with a strange politeness, as if she was sorry for the way she had yelled at him. Besides, just one day after the ball she and Scott had broken up, making another big scene for the castle. But neither James nor Lily had really talked about the incident. When James had returned from the Hospital Wing, he refused to talk about it and strangely enough, he hadn't mention Lily ever since; at least until last day, when he had asked Natalie to pry some informations from his love-subject.

However, Natalie didn't get to prying informations from her friend, nor did she really want to. It was the first time in three months she got to spend the day with Lily so James wasn't on her mind at that moment.

"…I think it was absolutely unfair. Just that she's totally stupid we get an extra homework." Natalie complained about their recent Transfiguration class.

"Yeah, it was rather unfair. But you sure won't have any problem with that." Lily pointed out Natalie's studying talents and Natalie shrugged.

"I wouldn't hae but considering I will write it three times…" she trailed off with resignation "for James and Sirius, they have detention." she cleared when Lily raised her eyebrows. At that, the readhead sighed with disapproval.

"I still don't know why you hang around them all the time, especially with Black and Potter. They do'´t do anything else than make you write their homework and get you in trouble. Natalie, you would be a perfect student but Potter and Black are no good." she said and Natalie frowned, an anger suddenly rising in her chest but she managed to control it.

"Lily, do _not_ talk about them like that." she said and her friend didn't miss her angry tone "you don't know them at all, not that you could when you don't bother to give them a chance. They're my friends, alright? And they're not that bad as you think."

"Alright. I'm sorry. I still don't understand but I'm sorry." Lily said.

"That's fine. Let's talk about something else. How did you write that-" suddenly, Natalie stopped. They were just passing by a group of Ravenclaw students when a roar of laughter followed them. Usually, Natalie wouldn't give a damn about it hadn't she heard her name.

"Hey, Crane?" someone from the group of students called after her so she turned around, confusion written over her face.

"What?" she asked warily.

"Is that truth? Is it truth that you were affraid to go for a good shag with Terry here?" one of the boys asked. Natalie blushed and turned around to continue in her way, not in mood to fight anyone. "Oh, so it is truth!" the boy exclaimed.

"What are you, Crane, the last virgin in Griffindor?" another boy with shaggy blonde hair called after her.

"Ignore them, just ignore them." Natalie muttered to Lily, who was about to pull out her wand.

"Tell me, Crane, because we have a bet going about it. Are you or aren't you? I would say you aren't considering how you chase after those four boyfriends of yours; I would say that you've done it at least four times. Personally, I don't know what they see in you, you're a bit fa-" he didn't finish the sentence as several things happened at once. First, there was a flash of blue light and the blonde boy fell down, and with a nasty retching sound, black cockroaches were streaming out of his mouth. Natalie just heard a flow of insults on the boy's account (most of which she had never heard) and just then, in a quick commotion, she noticed it was Sirius who had decided to teach him a lesson. But the group of Ravenclaws wasn't about to let their friend unrevenged and unfortunately, as Sirius was still cursing Natalie's bully, he failed to notice the biggest one of the Ravenclaw group to raise his wand until it was too late. There was another flash of light and then Nat saw Sirius lying in a heap on the floor. However, just then, the rest of the Marauders arrived and also Natalie and even Lily pulled out their wands and sent a variety of hexes at the boys. When the Ravenclaws saw they were outnumbered, they grabbed their still-cockroaches-retching friend and took off. But no one cared anymore about them as they quickly ran to Padfoot, who still didn't get up.

"Padfoot? You ok?" James asked and crouched next to his best mate, while Natalie, Remus, Peter and Lily gathered around. "What the hell happened?"

"That- that prat was saying some things 'bout Nat. Had to teach him a lesson." Sirius said but he still didn't make any effort to get up, he didn't even roll onto his back but lay, rather uncomfortably, on his side with tangled legs.

"Padfoot, can you get up?" Remus asked and he, too, leaned down to his friend and stretched his hand for Sirius to take; however, Sirius didn't move.

"I- I would, but there's this problem. I can't move my legs." Sirius said, trying to sound bravely and failing miserably as his voice was shaking.

"What? Can you feel this?" James said and pinched Sirius' foot.

"Ouch!" Sirius yelped. "Yeah, that hurt."

"We should roll him on his back." Lily chimed in and for a while, her and James' eyes met, but in that moment neither of them had time to dwell on it. They managed to roll Sirius on his back so he was more comfortable and then Lily moved to look at his legs. Carefully, she took his right leg to examine it but as soon as she did, she gasped.

"What?" five voices asked.

"Look!" Lily said and then began twisting Sirius' leg into all directions, which was something he definitely wouldn't able to do if he had bones.

"Oi! What the hell are you doing with my legs, Evans?" Sirius exclaimed from his spot on the floor, where he was now propped on his elbows so he could look at his legs himself.

"Blimey! That son of a Bludger has…unboned you." James said and his voice was dripping with not only fright but also a bit of amusement.

"You don't say, Prongs." Sirius said sarcastically through gritted teeth.

"We have to take him to the Hospital Wing." Remus interrupted their banter and moved to another side of Sirius so he and James could lift him. With a lot of effort, the two Marauders managed to lift their friend and wrapped his arms around their shoulders. However, since Sirius didn't have any bones in his legs, he was dragging them behind him, resting all his weight on his friends, making the way to the Hospital Wing even harder. Peter followed behind them, showing a weird excitement of this entire incident and, a bit behind, went Lily, who had her arm around Natalie's shoulders, trying to console her. Since the whole accident, Natalie didn't say a word but now silent tears were streaming down her face. Lily guessed that Nat was feeling guilty about all of this and desperately tried to cheer her friend up.

Before they came into the Hospital Wing, Natalie managed to calm down a bit and wiped away the tears, so the boys wouldn't notice them. When she came in, James and Remus already had Sirius on one bed, and Madame Pomfrey was fussing over him, much to an amusement of James.

"What have you got yourself into this time, Mr. Black? Last time you somehow managed to get your feet two times bigger and now you don't have a bone in your legs. When are you finally going to learn?" she said and James and Remus sniggered at the memory how Sirius had been pranked last time - when he had put on his sneakers, his feet had gotten twice their size. Even Sirius grinned a bit at that memory but then worry filled his eyes again.

"But- but you can make them grow back, right?" he asked, his voice slightly quivering, and propped on his elbows again.

"Of course I can." Madame Pomfrey shot back "but don't expect it to be pleasant, re-growing of bones is painful."

"I can deal with that." Sirius sighed and fell back on the pillows. All his friends now came to his bed, watching him with mixed expression. Girls looked scared, while Peter still had this excited look on his face. Remus wasn't looking a bit surprised while James was still sniggering and now was fooling with Sirius leg again, twisting it in various directions.

"Oi! Leave my legs alone." Sirius barked so James dropped his leg back on the bed and turned to Madame Pomfrey.

"But he will be able to play in the match on Saturday, won't he?" he asked and Madame Pomfrey pursed her lips in disagreeing expression.

"I don't see a reason he wouldn't be. Of course, if Mr. Black won't pull any of his escaping stunts." she said sternly and James smirked. James and Sirius' hate of hospital was already well known among people and their escapes belonged to famous stories of them.

"Nat, you alright?" Sirius asked then, obvious to the talk while Madame Pomfrey disappeared to her office.

"I'm fine."

"Because you don-" Sirius was about to say something when Madame Pomfrey came back with a vial of bloodily red liquid and poured some into a goblet.

"Drink up, Mr. Black" she ordered and pressed the goblet into Sirius' hand. Sirius first sniffed to that, now very resembling the dog he could turn into, and made a face. Hesitantly he took a sip and immediately spit the potion back.

"That's bloody disgusting." he said and Madame Pomfrey clicked her tongue.

"Don't be like a small child. You got yourself into this mess, now bear the consequences." she said. Sirius just rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and in one long sip, he drained the goblet. "Now, you lot get out of here, my patient needs quiet." she said and Sirius' friends managed only to say a quick 'Bye' before she shooed them out of the room.

However, that night Natalie was lying in her bed, unable to sleep. She was still thinking about the whole accident and fresh tears were streaming down her face. It was all her fault Sirius was now lying in Hospital Wing, having half of his bones re-grown. If she had just told the boys off or walked away immediately, Sirius wouldn't have been in this mess now. And she still heard Madame Pomfrey's words that re-growing of bones was painful. After what had Sirius all done for her, he was now lying alone in Hospital Wing, probably in pain, and all because of her. That thought brought new tears but also a wave of determination. She threw the covers aside and quietly got up. Luckily, Lily was sleeping heavily and the rest of her roomates didn't care if she was in bed or not, so Natalie quietly made a way to the door and into boys' dormitory. Quietly she padded across the room to James' bed and shook him slightly.

"Yo, James!" she whispered and her friend opened his eyes at once, looking confused.

"Swanny?" he said sleepily and rubbed his eyes "It's bloody three in he morning, what do you want?" he asked.

"I need your Invisible Cloak." she said in a whisper and for a short while James was watching her intently.

"It's in my trunk. Say Hi to him." he added, making Natalie blush, and then fell back on his bed and into deep slumber again. Very quickly, Nat took James' Cloak from his trunk, put it on and then made her way out of boys' dormitory, out of the Griffindor Tower and through the dark corridors, she headed straight to the Hospital Wing.

There he was, lying on the bed they had left him in. When Natalie saw him, she breathed out a sigh of relief. However, then her brow furrowed. He certainly wasn't asleep since his breath was ragged, he was trashing, and the sheets were balled in his fists. In the moonlight, she saw his forehead was clammy with sweat and some strands of his hair were sticking to it. In his feverish state, he didn't even hear the creaking noise of the door. In a quick motion, Natalie shrugged off the Cloak and stepped to his bed. Sirius' eyes were closed so he didn't notice her; however, he wasn't asleep since his eyes were shut very tightly.

"Sirius?" Natalie said in barely hearable whisper and his eyes suddenly snapped open, and Natalie didn't miss the feverish glint in them.

"Blossom?" he said, whispering as well.

"Yea, it's me." she smiled slightly and sat down on a chair next to his bedside.

"What are you doing here?" he wondered and Nat chuckled.

"What? You didn't think we would leave you here alone with your bones growing, did you?" she said and from Sirius' look, it was visible that he indeed had. "How are you feeling?" she asked gently.

"Peachy." Sirius grunted and winced again. As Natalie saw that, she subconsciously reached and took his hand, surprising both herself and Sirius; but neither of them said anything and neither did any motion to pull away either.

"I guess I didn't thank you for what you did." Natalie said softly, looking straight into his eyes and for a while, their looks locked.

"It was nothing." Sirius said again, his voice hoarse, either with pain or with a wave of emotions.

"It wasn't nothing. You protected me. And now you're here because of it." she added sadly and Sirius recognized the guilt in her voice.

"Blossom, stop that. You would have done the same for me. Or for the others as well. That's just us - we would die for each other. And the others aren't allowed to feel guilty about it." he said in a joking manner but deep inside, he was serious. "Besides, no prat will say anything like that about our Swanny." he added and Natalie smiled.

"Alright. How's your legs?" she asked and with that, Sirius sat up, releasing Natalie's hand. Natalie happily noted that he was already able to sit. Sirius threw aside the sheet from his legs, not caring that he was only wearing his trunks. Carefully, he touched his right leg with his fingers, examining where the bones now reached.

"Oh, finally, I've got my knees back." he said, touching his kneecap "But Poppy lied to me."

"How comes?" Natalie asked curiously.

"It isn't painful. It's bloody excruciating." he whispered, and Natalie was surprised that he would even admit that something hurt in front of her. He had always been acting like the toughest boy in Hogwarts (and playing the post of a Beater, he really was to some degree).

"What can I do for you?" Natalie asked when he fell back on the pillow, grimacing in pained gesture.

"Just stay." he said quietly and now it was him who made the contact as first, as he reached for her hand.

"I'm not going anywhere." she whispered. For a while, they were quiet but when Sirius' breath grew ragged again and more beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, Natalie got up from her seat.

"Blossom?" Sirius asked and opened his eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere." Natalie repeated, to assure him she would stay; and then she came over to the corner of the room, where a pitcher of water was standing on a drawer. She took it, poured some water into a clean goblet, and brought it over to Sirius. "Here, take a drink." she said and held it to his dry lips. Sirius was grateful as he was indeed thirsty and he drained the most of the goblet. When Natalie put the goblet on the bedside table, she took Sirius' hand again and instinctively swept back some strands of hair from his forehead. Truthfully, both of them were surprised by this gesture as well, but neither of them decided to comment it.

"Get some sleep." Natalie said then, and Sirius obediently closed his eyes, too tired to make any protests and not even wanting to. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this." Natalie whispered, her voice barely audible, much more for Sirius who was already only half-conscious. Eventually, she fell asleep herself, still sitting on the uncomfortable chair and her head propped next to Sirius' shoulder while she was still holding his hand.

Natalie was awoken by a sudden touch on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked around confusedly. The darkness was still surrounding her but a dim light of the upcoming sunrise was starting to creep into the room through the windows. She realized she was still in the Hospital Wing and focused her eyes on Sirius. Indeed, it was him, who had woken her up.

"Sirius?" she mumbled sleepily and rubbed her eyes with her left hand because her right hand was still resting in Sirius', now completly numb. "What is it? Are you alright?" she asked immediately.

"Yeah, Blossom, I'm fine." he answered, indeed sounding better than before; if nothing else, the signs of fever were gone and he didn't look like he was in pain either. "But it's five in the morning. I thought you might want to get back. Before Poppy catches you in here…" he suggested.

"Are you sure? I mean- It wouldn't be a problem for me at all to stay here." she offered but Sirius shook his head.

"Nah, I'm fine. Look." he said and inclined his head to his legs. Immediately, she noticed what he wanted her to see: he was wiggling his toes. At that, Natalie smiled happily.

"I'm glad you're alright. I was worried."

"I know. And thank you for staying with me. It helped." he said and for a while there was an awkward silent moment between them. Natalie felt something strange. Until now, she had just thought that what she had been feeling for him were mere 'sympathies,' but now, she recognized it was something much stronger. It was so strong and sudden and it was scaring her so much that she almost couldn't breathe. Suddenly, she needed to be as far from him as possible and at the same time she longed for another physical contact, even if it was mere holding hands. But also, she knew that she couldn't do anything about it, even if she told him and they had stepped over the borders of friendship, she knew it was Sirius Black, she was talking about - he never lasted in a relationship for more than a week. How, for Merlin's sake, would they get along then? Not only her further stay at Hogwarts but also the Marauders would be affected by this and she just wouldn't let it be.

With that, Natalie almost sprung up from her seat, earning a surprised look from Sirius.

"Well, then," she smiled, although a bit uneasily "I guess I really should go. I'm glad you're feeling better." she said while taking the Invisible Cloak. "When do you think you'll be getting out of here?" she asked and Sirius took a moment to answer, as if judging her reasons for this suddenly nonchalant act.

"You'll see me after breakfast." he said then and Natalie didn't miss how he had formulated the sentence. He had said 'You'll see me' and she wondered if he had said it on purpose or just because it was the first thing on his tongue.

"Alright." she nodded "I'll see you." she said and wrapped herself into the Cloak and immediately disappeared from Sirius' sight. In the dim light, he more heard than saw the door open with a creak and then he knew she was gone. With a sight, he closed his eyes and tried to get some more sleep.

Outside, Natalie sighed as well as she knew the next days would be anything but easy. Little did she know that it wouldn't be days but years when she would be feeling always a bit awkward around Sirius Black. But from that night on, her Patronus always took a shape of big black dog.

End of Flashback

After Natalie sent the Patronus, she had to wait until the First Task ended, but it wasn't a long time. Harry just had to wait for his evaluation and then he and the other champions got instructions to the Second Task and the whole lot was dismissed. Natalie just waited for Professor Dumbledore to have a short talk with him, before she headed to the Forbidden Forest again, where she turned into her Animagus form and flew back to Hogsmead.

When she burst through the door, Sirius was waiting for her anxiously. She just turned back from her Animagus form and immediately she leaped into his arms. Natalie laughed happily, as Sirius spun her around, laughing as well. Both of them felt better than in a long time, knowing that their Godson wouldn't be in an immediate danger for several long months.

* * *

**So another Sirius/Natalie moment, we even got a little, tiny glimpse of Lily and James. Hope you enjoyed;)**


	13. Cosmic Christmas

**I'm back! I'm sorry for the delay, people. I had a summer job and every evening, I would come home and my only thought would be of my soft bed. And besides, since this chapter mostly takes place in winter and during Christmas, it's a bit difficult to write while you're grilling on the sun. But here it is, enjoy!**

The time after the First task almost seemed to be flying. Before Natalie knew it, it was December and Christmas. It's been a long time since she had spent merry Christmas, the last one had only resembled to the happy ones she used to celebrate. But this year, she was looking forward to Christmas more than in thirteen years. She gave all her effort into making Sirius content on this time of the year. And he had to admit that she was doing a great job. The whole house was decorated with tinsel, holly and mistletoe and she even managed to get a christmas tree, probably with help of Hagrid. And when the house was scented by the smell of cinnamon, tangerine and apple pie, Sirius was feeling like at home (if it was even possible to feel _more_ like at home). Harry had sent several letters to Sirius and in the last one, he had mentioned the Yule Ball. Again, Sirius remembered their Balls and chuckled. Harry had sounded absolutely terrified (maybe even more than before the First task if possible), but the boy just didn't know what he was missing – fun, music, teachers under the influence of good punch or butterbeer, chance to snog a girl or two…or more if you were Sirius.

As Harry was preparing for a very good party (in Sirius opinion), Natalie and Sirius were about to have much more quiet Christmas. Natalie only invited Remus and after a suggestion that he rather wouldn't bother their 'personal celebrations' (which earned him a smack from Natalie), he accepted gratefully. The three friends spent The Christmas Eve chatting and drinking butterbeers and hot chocolate, all three of them enjoying themselves completely. Just a few days after New Year, the Prophet was full of scandalous blurbs of Rita Skeeter again. When Natalie read her article about Hagrid, she slammed the paper on the table, earning a raised eyebrow from Sirius.

"That- that woman! The nerve of her! Urgh, if the bitch gets under my hands-" she seethed while Sirius was reading the article himself. When he finished he snorted, full of anger as well.

"Instead of noticing important facts she writes about this." he said grimly while browsing through the paper, looking for other facts.

Just that afternoon, there was a pop in their fireplace and the Hogwarts Headmaster himself stepped out of it, surprising the couple.

"Good afternoon to both of you." he said

"Good day, sir. Please, take a seat. Would you like some tea?" Natalie offered immediately.

"Tea sounds nice, thank you." Dumbledore said so Natalie just waved her wand and a tray with teapot and cups and some biscuits appeared on the table. "You surely wonder what brings me here this afternoon." the old wizard said after a sip of tea.

"We sure do. Is something wrong? Is Harry alright?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"Now, Sirius, you surely don't think I would sit and enjoy a cup of this fine tea if young was in danger." Dumbledore said and even Sirius grinned apologetically.

"Than what did you need to talk about, sir?" Natalie asked.

"Well, Miss Crane, you surely read the article about our Hagrid."

"Yes." Natalie almost hissed, which went seemingly unnoticed by the Headmaster.

"Unfortunately, I have to say that the whole school did. As well as Hagrid himself."

"Oh" Natalie said sadly while Sirius just waited what would come of this.

"To say he's quite shaken up is and understatement. I'm affraid he's not able to teach these days."

Finally, Natalie got an idea where this was going. "You want to say that-"

"I want to say that I need your services as a teacher again, my dear." Dumbledore said and Sirius choked on his tea as he began laughing.

"Hey!" Natalie smacked his shoulder, making him laugh even harder. Then she turned to Dumbledore again "I'll be glad to help, sir." she said with a smile.

"Very well. I need you in school starting tomorrow. Here's your schedule." Dumbledore said.

"I'll be there, sir." Natalie smiled again and earned a smile from the Hogwarts Headmaster.

The next day Natalie was in Hogwarts again. The grounds were snowed and seemed like scenery from a fairytail. Natalie's first class was the fourth years. Harry's year again and she couldn't wait. She prepared something special for them. Reggie.

She waited for her class at Hagrid's hut. As she eyed the approaching class, she sighed when she saw the Griffindors had the class together with Slytherins again. This ought to be interesting. When the class arrived, the students were staring at her just like last year.

"Good afternoon." she greeted them with a smile. "I hope you all remember me from the last year. For those who don't: I'm Professor Crane and I'm your substitute teacher for today's lesson." she said, still smiling. Harry looked confused and worried now.

"Where is Hagrid?" Harry's friend, Ron, asked aloud, earning a snigger from Draco Malfoy.

"I'm affraid he's…indisposed." she answered, frowning slightly "Alright, now if you please follow me." she said and to their dread, she was leading them to the Forbidden Forest. However, Natalie stopped at the very edge of the forest and the whole class could now see what today's subject would be. Right before them, there was standing a huge Winged horse. It had chestnut colour and was digging its hooves in the snow impatiently. "Now, stop right there, please." she ordered and the whole class stopped.

"So…anyone knows what animal is this?" she asked and several hands flew up. "Yes?" she pointed at a boy with sandy hair.

"It's a winged horse" he said and she chuckled slightly.

"Well, I think as much is obvious, Mr. Finnigan. But what- yes, Miss Granger?"

"It's Aethonan." Hermione said.

"Very well, five points for Miss Granger." Natalie said, earning a smile from most of the Griffindors. "Alright, so Aethonans are very common in Britain and Ireland, although you can also find other species of winged horses, of course. Actually, you don't have to go far; the horses drawing the Beauxbaton's carriage are Abraxans and Hogwarts has the whole herd of Thestrals." she said and hearing that, several students gaped at her. Natalie almost chuckled at that – many people still considered Thestrals as an unlucky sign ('_just like big black dogs_' Natalie inwardly giggled) but truth was, that this was a riddiculous superstition.

However, as Natalie continued in her talk about winged horses, she didn't fail to notice that the attention of some students was dropping; especially the attention of a few boys (including Harry, his friend Ron and Draco Malfoy), who were obviously discussing something and Natalie could feel a growing tension among them.

"Messrs. Potter, Weasly and Malfoy, would you mind coming to the front?" she said, although it didn't sound like a question at all. All three boys shuffled to the front and she noticed Malfoy's sleazy smirk and Harry's and Ron's angry frowns. Then her eyes wandered to the paper in Harry's hand and suddenly she understood. "Now, I know the matter you were discussing over there was important, however I want you to pay attention now and don't disturb the others." she said calmly but her voice was firm. Harry and Ron nodded slightly while Malfoy grinned sarcastically. "Mr. Malfoy, you'll be the first one to approach the Aethonan." she said and Malfoy instead of stepping forward crossed his arms on his chest and sneered at her.

"Just wait until my father finds out you're teaching us again. He's seething even now; first it was werewolfs, then dumb giants and now we're even taught by incompetent Mud-bloods." he remarked and several students gasped.

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry barked.

"Or what, Potter? Will you make me?" Malfoy taunted and Harry pulled out his wand.

"Yes if I have to." he said and Ron pulled out his wand as well in order to back up his friend.

"Harry, stop!" Natalie said with steely voice and Harry paused. But she didn't give him a second look, as she turned to Malfoy and came closer to him.

"Now, tell me, what would your father do? I'm curious." she said and Harry was surprised to find a hint of mischief in her eyes. He reassured himself in the opinion he had made on her in his third year – she wasn't like any other teacher he knew. Other teachers would already take fifty points from Slytherin and give Malfoy a detention. But she almost seemed to be challenging him to step over the boundaries even further. Malfoy's watery eyes narrowed.

"He told me everything about you. You're a Mud-blood who wasn't even able to hold a job for more than a few months. He said he would do the exact thing he promised to you during your last meeting." he said slyly and Harry had his wand prepared again but Natalie calmed him with one gesture and then smirked with a mischievous smile.

"Your father is only lucky I'm not doing the same job anymore, Mr. Malfoy. Kindly tell your father I say Hello and also tell him to watch out for me because it only takes one slip for him and _I_ will do the exact thing I promised to him." as she talked she took one step closer to Malfoy and narrowed her eyes as well. Harry noted that Malfoy wasn't looking as haughty anymore and Harry had to admit that he had a good reason. There was something steely in Natalie, and it would scare off anyone. After another minute during which Natalie and Malfoy were staring at each other angrily, as if fighting with their glares while the rest of the class was watching them with awe, Malfoy took a subconscious step back. Now even Natalie seemed to recover and she turned around and marched back to the winged horse.

"Mr. Weasley, it's your turn instead." she said, still a bit sharply and Ron gulped before slowly walking forward. "Oh, and Mr. Malfoy, I almost forgot; it's fifty points from Slytherin and a week of detention for you." she said and Malfoy's eyes narrowed again, this time with a pure loathing.

The rest of the class ended in a strange tension as none of the students dared to speak without permission. Although the subject was very interesting and even quite pleasant as they were taking care of Reggie, the Aethonan. But Harry was eager for the class to end because he wanted to visit Hagrid very badly. However, when they heard the sound of the bell from the castle and they were about to leave, Professor Crane stopped them.

"Harry? Could I talk to you for a moment? And Ron? The rest of you are dismissed." she said so Harry and Ron reluctantly stayed behind while Hermione was about to wait aside but Professor Crane nodded at her.

"Hermione, you can stay as well." she said so Hermione stayed. Natalie was now stabbed by three curious looks.

"Boys, I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me." she said and Harry and Ron seemed to be taken aback.

"That's alright, Professor." Harry said then.

"He had no right to call you this." Hermione spoke up hesitantly and from her voice, Natalie recognized that the girl had also tried the troubles of being a Muggle-born.

"Well, I think that the Malfoy's will always have it for me." Natalie said with a snort and all three students gave her puzzled looks.

"Why?" Ron asked blatantly, earning a jab into his ribs from Hermione.

"Well…" Natalie frowned but obviously not because Ron's question had made her angry; it was a pensive frown. "There are some grudges from the past between us and there always will be. But that's nothing for you to worry about, I'm tougher than getting hurt by a Slytherin teenager. Now, I think it's time for you to go back to the castle." she said and the kids seemed to recover from deep thoughts.

"We actually wanted to visit Hagrid." Harry admitted and Natalie sighed.

"You can try but I doubt he will want to see anyone. I tried." she said sadly but then she perked up again. "But if you don't mind I would accompany you. I would like to talk to him, see how he is." she said and Harry, Ron and Hermione of course assured her that they didn't mind. So Natalie took Reggie's rope and all of them headed back to Hagrid's hut.

"Oh, Harry, I wanted to congratulate to you to your perfectly managed First Task. You were wonderful." Natalie said on their way.

"You've seen the first task?" Harry wondered and Natalie hesitated.

"Well…I wouldn't miss such an event." she said with a strange smile. "The idea of the broom was brilliant. I wouldn't have thought of this way to get around a dragon. Although…even if I did, it would be a disaster, I'm horrible at flying…on brooms." she added quickly, and inwardly cringed. However, no one noticed her hesitation and Harry chuckled. After banging on Hagrid's door for good fifteen minutes, they all gave up and Natalie accompanied them to the castle.

Even for Harry's next lesson, Natalie was substituing as Hagrid was still nowhere to be seen. Natalie decided to take the next class a bit freely and the subject was a Jarvey. Everyone had to take care for a overgrown ferret. At first, the students seemed to be a bit disappointed as they saw them as fairly boring, but it was before the Jarveys started their endless rants, usually rather nasty and vulgar. Since they would all go crazy from twenty Jarveys, the students spread over the meadow and Natalie was going around and giving advices and instructions. The next lesson, however, Natalie brought her Tebo, although no one was allowed to near it; they were merely watching it (if it wasn't invisible). Although Sirius was still making fun of her, Natalie had to admit that she liked to be a teacher. She liked to plan her lessons and also (and she felt ashamed of herself at that) she liked to always swipe that stupid smirk off of Malfoy's face. And when Hagrid came back (although she was happy for him), she missed the teaching and she fell back into the stereotype in her and Sirius' cottage; although it ment a considerably bigger amount of time spent with her lover. Mainly, she missed the talks with her Godson. Although Hagrid was Harry's friend, the boy seemed to enjoy Natalie's lessons as well and every now and then, he and his friends stayed after the lesson to help her clean or just talk to her for a while.

* * *

After the second task, Harry again swore to himself that he wouldn't wait with preparations for the next task; although this time, he didn't have to worry that much as he would get the instructions in advance. Now he was more worried about the things going on in his school, especially after he saw the conversation between Snape and Moody and saw Crouch's name on the Marauder's Map. He really couldn't wait to see Sirius again. He was fairly curious what his Godfather thought about the events in Hogwarts. But truthfully, he was quite surprised when Sirius wanted to meet in Hogsmead and it made him slightly nervous. He was worried about Sirius being in Britain, let alone Hogsmead. But Ron was right - at least the place wasn't full of Dementors anymore.

Thus, on the unusually warm Saturday afternoon of their Hogsmead weekend, the trio headed to the stile at the end of the road out of Hogsmead. Harry had never gone this way before but he had to admit that it was a good meeting place if they didn't want to be seen. Finally, they arrived at the stile, where a huge black dog was waiting, his paws on the top bar of the stile, with newspaper in his mouth.

"Hello, Sirius." Harry smiled and the black dog put his front paws back on the ground, jumped over the stile and he was happily running around Harry while wildly wagging his tail. Then he gave them an intent gaze with his grey eyes and set off. They all understood they were supposed to follow him. However, Harry was wondering why he was leading them back to Hogsmead. Sirius was almost too quick for them so the kids had to speed up to keep up with him. Even Hermione seemed cofused when Sirius was leading them to the cottages. Amazed, Harry watched his Godfather heading to the last cottage before the end of the road, and when the dog opened the door with his paws without hesitation, Harry paused. The dog stopped in the doorway and turned at them. When Sirius saw the kids were hesitating to follow him, he barked, dropping the newspaper in the process. At that, Harry and his friends recovered from their frozen state and a little reluctantly followed the dog. In the meanwhile, Sirius took the paper into his mouth again and disappeared in the cottage. Once inside, Harry immediately saw Buckbeak, lying on a rug in front of a fireplace and a cat that was curled on a sofa a safe distance from the Hippogriff. Almost before Ron closed the door behind him, Sirius turned into his human form and gave them all a brief grin but then he turned his attention from them as if he was looking for someone.

"Blossom, they're here!" he shouted suddenly, making all three kids jump.

"Sirius, what-" Harry was about to ask but then he heard quick steps on the stairs. Then, his jaw almost hit the floor (and his friends weren't any better) when a black-haired witch appeared in the doorway, smiling happily at them.

"Hi, you three, glad you could make it." she said, beaming at them but the trio was too shocked to return the smile.

**There! A minor cliffhanger:) I usually don't end the chapters in the middle of a scene but I had to end it now, otherwise the chapter would be awfully long. I hope you liked it anyways. Leave a review.**


	14. 100 Years Ago

**Ok people, so since you asked me to update soon, here's the next chapter. ****I hope this is soon enough:) It's 'a bit' longer than the last one (although **_**the longest one**_** is still coming. Soon.). I'm glad you like the story, it gives me the motivation to write more. Anyways, on with the story!**

"Professor Crane?" Harry said then, still in disbelief. That made Sirius fall into a fit of barking laughter again, which brought another wave of astonishment to the kids. They had never heard Sirius laughing.

"Harry, I'm not your professor anymore, so just please call me Natalie. Oh and you calm down." she smacked Sirius on his shoulder when he couldn't stop laughing "So? Why are you standing there? Come on and sit down." she ushered them to the sofa and armchairs and they sat down hesitantly. With a flick of her wand, Natalie conjured up a tray with teacups and biscuits for all of them. However, Harry, Ron nor Hermione hesitated to take their tea as they were still too shocked about everything. This couldn't be said about Sirius, who immediately reached for the biscuits, taking a full hand of them. Harry now looked at him more closely and was surprised by his Godfather's appearence. Harry wouldn't have said it was the same man he had saved the last summer. He had gained some weight so he wasn't resembling a vampire anymore, his hair was now clean and shoulder-length and although the haunted look hadn't entirely disappeared from his eyes (and Harry didn't reckon it ever would), he now looked absolutely content as he was stuffing his mouth with biscuits. He now didn't look much different from the man on the old photo of his parents' wedding and Harry briefly wondered if the presence of the dark-haired witch had anything to do with this fact.

"So, would someone explain to me what is this about? Do you two know each other?" Harry asked and Natalie was about to answer but Hermione beat her to it.

"Of course they know each other. Prof- Natalie knows also Professor Lupin." she said. When Sirius heard the expression 'Professor Lupin,' he got another fit of laughter, this time choking on the biscuits and spitting a spray of crumbs on the carpet. This earned him a glare from Natalie.

"Oh, stop it already, you prat. And take a plate." she said and pressed the plate into his hands.

"I'm sorry, I just can't get the whole Professor-thing into my head." Sirius told Harry "Who would have thought - two of the Marauders becoming Hogwarts professors."

Harry was about to nod but then he realized what his Godfather had said. "Two of the Marauders? That means that you-" he turned to Natalie who beamed at him.

"That means that I'm Swanny." she finished for him.

"So that's why Professor Lupin was showing you the Marauder's Map." Hermione suddenly remembered and Natalie furrowed her brow. This time, Sirius finally managed to keep his face straight.

"I can't say I follow you, Hermione." Natalie said.

"Last year, after you were substituting our classes, we saw you with Professor Lupin. You were sitting on the bench and he was showing you the Marauder's Map." Hermione explained and Harry suddenly remembered as well.

"Oh, that." Natalie finally recalled and smiled at that thought "Yeah, that's why. He managed to get it from Snape's grasp and wanted to show it to me."

Harry almost had to shake his head at himself. Last summer, during the brief talk with Sirius, he hadn't managed to ask him about the fifth Marauder, and he had forgotten over the summer so now he was amazed by this new recognition.

"So…you're an Animagus as well?" Harry asked curiously and Natalie nodded. "And what animal-"

"I stick to my name." Natalie cut him off.

"So you are a crane?" Harry questioned and suddenly, a flick of amusement came over Natalie's face.

"I think I should show you." she said then and got up. In a blink, she turned into the Crane and Harry gasped with recognition.

"It was you who brought that letter to me." Harry exclaimed and Natalie turned back.

"We didn't want to send an owl; it would be too slow and could be intercepted." Sirius cut in, amusement on his face as well. At that, Harry nodded. It made sense. However, he was still very amazed by everything. When Sirius saw his Godson's look, he sighed. "Listen, I think we should start from the beginning but we don't have a lot of time to talk about Marauders right now. But there are some things you should know, Harry. Right, Nat?" he turned to Natalie and gave her a meaningful look. When Natalie realized he wanted her to tell Harry she was his Godmother, her eyes went wide.

"Well…uhm, yeah, sure." she said, suddenly feeling very nervous. "Harry, there's one more thing you should know about me. First, you should know that it isn't easy for me to talk about this. I used to be very good friends with your father and your mom as well. After school, your mom and I were spending much more time together than at school and we became considerably closer. And when you were born, James of course wanted Sirius to be your Godfather and your legal guardian in case something happened to him. And your mom wanted me to be your Godmother." Natalie said.

"You're my Godmother? Than why had I-"

"Spend your whole life with your aunt and uncle?" Natalie finished for him and sighed. "I can explain. Although I will understand if you are angry with me. The main reason was that Dumbledore wanted you to live with the Muggles. For my defense, I tried to reason with him but his arguments were holeproof."

"What did he say?" Harry asked quietly with a hint of sadness in his voice and for the first time, Natalie was able to look into his eyes.

"He wanted you to stay with your aunt for as long as you live with your mother's blood under the same roof, you have a protection your mom gave you. As long as you can call that place home, you are safe there, no matter how much you hate it there." Natalie explained sadly.

"But surely, I would have been safe with you as well." Harry said, remembering her steely voice and temperament. Natalie gave a mirthless chuckle.

"That's what I was trying to tell him. I was sure I would have been able to keep you safe but Dumbledore had an argument I couldn't disprove…he said, and he was right, that in that time, I- I was rather incompetent to take care of anybody." she said quietly and looked on the floor again as her eyes were beginning to water.

"I didn't know that." Sirius cut in in a sad voice, not unlike he sounded when he had appeared on Natalie's doorstep.

Natalie nodded "I didn't say anything because who would have had more difficult time than you for those twelve years?" she looked up again and one tear slid down her cheek. "But truth was that the events of that Halloween night were a hard blow for all of us. Suddenly, three of my friends were dead and- and Sirius was in Azkaban." she looked at Harry again. "suddenly, I had almost no one except Remus. For a long time I was a wreck. I was unable to keep a job and, I would have sudden emotional breakdowns during which I was angry with everybody around me. So Dumbledore was right when he said I wasn't the apropriate person to take care of a baby. Only Remus was able to stand by me and resist my outbursts. For six years. Then we had a huge argument and we weren't in contact for another six years. But during that time, I was finally able to pull myself together and get my life in order again and here I am now." Natalie finished and wiped another tear from her cheek. Everyone was listening to her with stunned expression. "Listen, Harry, I'll understand completly if you don't want to go near me again, because it really was my fault you have to live with those…Dursleys. But I want you to know, that I wanted what was best for you and if Dumbledore said it wasn't me I had to respect it." she said and looked at her Godson. He was watching her for a while with an unreadable expression on his face.

"No." he said then. "I don't reckon it's your fault. No one can imagine what you were going through in that time, after losing your friends. And I believe you did all you could have to convince Dumbledore to leave me with you. I'm not angry."

"I knew you would do the same thing your father would have done." Sirius said with a smile and Harry smiled back.

"So…do you accept my apology?" Natalie asked tentatively.

"I do." Harry gave her a smile and she beamed at him.

"Well then…have a tea." she said and Harry chuckled and finally took a cup of the tea.

"So, after we saved you from the Dementors, did you just come here?" Harry asked his Godfather curiously.

"Merlin, Harry, no. I listened to Dumbledore's advice - that one you told me and I went to Natalie's place."

"Than what-"

"Harry, I don't live here." Natalie chimed in. "After you send your letter about your scar, we came here; we want to be on the spot. We've been keeping a close eye on newspaper and by the look of things, we're not the only ones getting worried."

"Nat, that reminds me, I've brought other Prophets." Sirius said and Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Like digging through trash cans much, Padfoot?" she teased. "I told you I would get the newspaper."

"I like to be useful." Sirius muttered.

"Sirius, what if they catch you? What if you're seen?" Harry asked with concern.

"You three and Dumbledore are the only ones who know we're Animagi." Sirius shrugged and took another hand of the biscuits. In the meantime, Harry quickly read the story about Crouch.

"They're making it sound like he's dying." Harry concluded. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"

"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant." Ron informed them "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Overwork? Crouch?" Natalie wondered and leaned back against the cushions of the sofa comfortably, all her previous sadness gone.

"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close." Harry said, his eyes still on the paper. "The night my name came out of the goblet…"

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he? I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now – bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him." Hermione said eagerly.

"Hermione's obessed with house-elfs." Ron informed Sirius and Natalie, rolling his eyes. However, both of them looked interested. Natalie leaned forward again and Sirius paused his hand with a biscuit halfway to his mouth so he could ask.

"Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup." Harry said and told them the story of the Quidditch World Cup, Dark Mark and Winky. When he finished, Sirius got up and started pacing around the homey-looking living room.

"Let me get this straight." he said then, his brow furrowed as he was pondering "You first saw the elf in the Top Box, saving Crouch a seat, ritht?"

"Right."

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No." Harry answered. "I think he said he'd been too busy."

At that, Sirius began pacing again, thinking quietly but instead, Natalie spoke up "Harry, when you were leaving the Top Box, did you check you still had your wand?" she asked

"Erm…no. I didn't need to use my wand before we got in the forest." Harry said and then he looked in turns at Sirius and Natalie "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"

"It's possible." Sirius answered.

"Winky didn't steel that wand!" Hermione insisted.

"The elf wasn't the only one in that box." Sirius said, still frowning. "Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people. Some Bulgarian ministers, Cornelius Fudge, the Malfoys…"

"The Malfoys!" Ron exclaimed suddenly. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy." he said and gave Natalie a triumphant look.

"Hmm." she slowly shook her head and bit her lower lip.

"Anyone else?" asked Sirius.

"No one." Harry answered.

"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman." Hermione chimed in.

"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps. What's he like?" Sirius stopped for a while in his pacing to look at Harry.

"He's okay. He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."

"Does he now? I wonder why he'd do that?" Sirius frowned even more.

"Says he's taken a liking to me." Harry said.

"Hmm." Sirius grunted.

"I saw him the evening of choosing the Champions, he doesn't strike me like the type helping Voldemort but who knows." Natalie noted.

"We saw him in the forest jst before the Dark Mark appeared." Hermione said. "Remember?" she turned to Harry and Ron.

"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he? The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite"

"How'd you know? How do you know where he Disapparated to?" Hermione barked.

"Come off it, are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?" Ron said indredulously.

"It's more likely he did it than Winky." Hermione said sharply.

"Told you" Ron grumbled, giving Sirius and Natalie an increduous look. "Told you she's obessed with house-" but Sirius cut him off with held up hand.

"When the Dark Mark had appeared, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?"

"He went to look in the bushes but there wasn't anyone else there." Harry answered.

"Of course."" Sirius muttered, giving Natalie a look and she nodded.

"Yeah, of course he'd want anyone but his elf to take the blame. And then he sacked her?" Natalie asked.

"Yes." Hermione said fiercely. "He sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled-"

"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" Ron barked but to his surprise, Sirius stood up for her.

"She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." then he sighed and pondered while Natalie was thinking aloud.

"Crouch's behaviour is really rather suspicious. He makes sure his house-elf saves him a seat in Top Box but then he doesn't bother to come. He works very hard to set up the Triwizard Tournament and then he stops coming to that too, just because he's ill." she concluded and Sirius cut in

"It's not like Crouch, you know that yourself. If he's ever taken a day off work because of ilness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."

"Do you know Crouch, then?" Harry asked and Sirius's face darkened and Natalie frowned and bit her lip again.

"Oh, I know Crouch all right." Sirius said. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban – without a trial."

"You're kidding." Harry exclaimed.

"No, I'm not. Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know? He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic. He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical, and power-hungry."

"But never a Voldemort supporter." Natalie chimed in.

"No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side…well, you wouldn't understand…you're too young." Sirius said, leaning against the backside of the couch with his hands, right behind where Natalie was sitting, and his look was distant.

"That's what my dad said at the World Cup. Try us, why don't you?" Ron said, suddenly soundig annoyed. At that, Natalie looked up at Sirius with a smirk and he grinned.

"All right, we'll try you…" Natalie said and Sirius straightened up again, and again began pacing while Natalie looked at the ceiling, obviously thinking how to start. "Alright, just imagine that Voldemort's got his power now. You don't know who works for him and who doesn't, but what you know is that he's got many ways to make people do terrible things they wouldn't even think of if they were themselves. You're scared for your life and for the lives of your loved ones but at the same time, you don't know whom to trust. Every week, you hear about new tragedies, deaths, tortures or disappearences and very often the name you hear is the name of person you know. Ministry of Magic is in total disorder, they don't know how to stop all this horrors and keep everything secret from Muggles when it's the Muggles who dies almost more than wizards do. Everywhere you go is fear and panic and terror…" Natalie said, frowning at those memories.

"Exactly." Sirius picked up where Natalie stopped. "Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning – I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemorts supporters. The Aurors were given new powers – powers to kill rather than capture, for instance."

"Yeah." Natalie murmured. "And Sirius wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch also authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects." she said with a hint of disapproval in her voice. "I think he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side."

"But he had his supporters, mind you – plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job."

"However, it took only one event and he lost a lot of his popularity…Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed avoid Azkaban until that time. They were caught…they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power." Natalie said sadly.

"Crouch's son was caught?" Hermione said, her eyes wide.

"Yep." Sirius said and plopped down on the couch next to Natalie and took yet other biscuits "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while, gotten to know his own son." he said and stuffed another biscuit into his mouth.

"Was his son a Death Eater?" Harry asked.

"No idea." Sirius said with a full mouth and then he swallowed before he spoke up again. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters – but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."

"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione asked quietly and at that, Sirius started laughing barkingly.

"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione!" he said but then he jumped when he was jabbed to his side by Natalie's elbow.

"Sirius!" she said reprovingly and he seemed to sober up. "No, Hermione." she continued seriously. "Anything that would just remotely threaten his reputation had to go, it was his job what was his life. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again – doesn't that tell you what he's like? No, he went just so far to give his son a trial, and I would say it was rather an excuse to show how much he hated the boy, and then he sent him straight to Azkaban, forsaking him forever."

"He gave his own son to the Dementors?" Harry whispered.

"That's right." Sirius said and all amusement was now gone from his voice. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though…they all went quiet in the end…except when they shrieked in their sleep…"

As Sirius was reminiscing, the haunted look in his eyes appeared again as he was staring into the floor, seeming far far away. Only the gentle touch of Natalie's hand on his forearm pulled him out of this trance and he flashed her a brief grateful smile.

"So, he's still in Azkaban?" Harry asked.

"No." Sirius sighed grimly, giving his Godson a look. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."

"He died?"

"He wasn't the only one. Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw old Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress, I watched them do it." Sirius sighed again and reached for his cup of tea, which had gone cold by now and Natalie continued for him.

"And his wife died shortly afterwards. Grief. She was wasted away just like the boy. So, Barty Crouch lost everything - his son, his wife, the family reputation and also his popularity was decreasing rapidly. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward him and mostly blamed his father for what the boy had become. So it became, that Cornelius Fudge got the top job and Crouch got just the post in the Department of Internactional Magical Cooperation." she finished and a dull silence settled in the room.

"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards." Harry said after a while.

"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him." Sirius nodded "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."

"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" Ron exclaimed.

"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all." Sirius shook his head.

"Yeah, it does!" Ron nodded animatedly but Natalie skipped in.

"No, Ron, it doesn't. Look, if you wanted to investigate someone, wouldn't you want to be keeping an eye on him as often as possible, and as inconspicuously as possible? The tournament would have been a perfect excuse, don't you think?"

"So, you think Snape could be up to something, then?" Harry asked but Hermione chimed in.

"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape-" she said but Ron strongly disagreed with her opinion and soon, those two got into their usual banter.

"What do you think, Sirius?" Harry asked to cut off his friends' bickering.

"I think they've both got a point. Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was." Sirius said and Natalie let out a snort.

"And let me tell you, this thing hasn't changed." she mumbled under her breath and Sirius smirked.

"Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters…" Sirius said and then began listing the names he still remembered "- But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater."

"This, however, doesn't mean much." Natalie chimed in "Plenty of that scum never made it to Azkaban. And Snape's smart enough to keep a low profile."

"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet." Ron said.

"Yeah, you should have seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" Harry added. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape; he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."

"He showed Snape something on his arm?" Sirius asked astonished and gave Natalie a confused look and she frankly shrugged.

"I've no clue what that's about…But if Karkaroff seeks help at Snape, then …" Natalie trailed off and Sirius sighed with frustration and frowned.

"There is still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he had ever worked for Voldemort."

"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snapes office then?" Ron insisted.

"Well…I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his DADA seriously. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising." Sirius said and Natalie smiled slightly.

"Yes, I don't think I've been scared of someone as much as of Mad-Eye. But he was the best mentor we could have, his Constant Vigilance was the first thing he got into my head." she recalled and Sirius nodded, reminiscing as well.

"Mentor?" Harry asked in confusion.

"During our Auror training." Natalie explained.

"You were Aurors?" Harry was amazed.

"Yes, Harry, we were. Along with your dad." Natalie said quietly and Harry's jaw almost fell to the floor.

"That we were." Sirius said distantly before getting back to the topic "But I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive if possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though…he's a different matter…is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not…what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn´t turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?" Sirius pondered aloud and then trailed off, staring absentmindly at Buckbeak, which was cleaning his plumage.

"You say your brother is Crouch's personal assistant? Do you think you could ask him about Crouch?" Natalie asked Ron.

"I can try. Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."

"And you might try and find out whether they have got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it." Sirius added.

"Bagman told me they hadn't." Harry spoke up.

"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there. Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all – quite the contrary. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut." Sirius said and Natalie shook her head.

"I still remember that hassle when she tried to pick out something on me and Remus." she said and Sirius snorted with amusement while the three kids were staring at her with astonishment.

"Swanny here hexed her into oblivion." he said to his Godson and his friends with a mischievous smirk but then he sobered up again. "Anyway, I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic…maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long…"

"Or they don't want to kick up a fuss about it; maybe they're trying to keep it quiet." Natalie pointed out and then she looked at a clock "Oh, it's half past three. You should get back to school." she said and Sirius agreed.

"Yeah. Now listen…" he gave them stern look. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school here, all right? Just keep sending us notes."

"Right. We still want to hear about anything odd but don't leave Hogwarts, it would be the best opportunity for someone to hurt you." Natalie chimed in.

"No one has tried to hurt me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows." Harry defended but it only earned him other stern frowns.

"I don't care…I'll breathe freely again when this tournament is over, and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?" Sirius said and all three kids nodded.

"Oh, and Harry, if you see me in Hogwarts when I'm not substituting for Hagrid, don't take any notice of me, understand? Sometimes I'm patrolling the corridors and keeping an eye out for Karkaroff and the Durmstrang Champion but Dumbledore wants me to be discreet, alright?"

Harry nodded again but then something came to his mind. "So, I wasn't imagining it when I thought I saw you that night the Champions were chosen…"

"No, you weren't." Natalie smiled. "But Karkaroff can't know I'm watching him, okay? I'll walk you to Hogwarts, it wouldn't be good if you were seen with me but I know paths from Hogsmead that no one uses." she said.

"I'll go too." Sirius said and turned into a black dog again and Natalie let him out. She walked with them the abandoned way from Hogsmead, which went under the mountain and led to the Hogwarts gate from another side. It was longer but at least it gave them the opportunity to talk more. Hermione and Ron strolled a bit in front of Harry and Natalie, to give them a bit of privacy while the big dog was happily running around them, glad to be outside again and every now and then, he playfully grabbed at their feet.

"For Merlin's sake, Snuffles!" Natalie exclaimed when he managed to steal her shoe. Sirius ran a bit away with the shoe and then he turned back and challenged her with his look. But Natalie rolled her eyes. "If you think I'll go after you, you're crazy!" she called after him but the dog still dared her with his grey eyes. At that, Natalie sighed and looked around to make sure there weren't any unwanted witnesses and then in a blink she turned into the crane and launched after him. The black dog was very quick but his paws still couldn't compare to the wings and soon enough the crane clawed into his back (altough not hard enough to break any skin). Immediately, Natalie turned back so now she was holding the dog around his neck. But as the dog had been too slow for a crane, she as a human was too weak for a bear-like dog and soon enough, Sirius wrestled Natalie, so she was lying on her back and he held her on the ground with his paw. But then he finally dropped the shoe and gave her a wet lick right on her mouth.

Harry and his friends laughed when they watched his Godparents fool around like that and again, he realized just how much had Sirius changed since the time he had seen him. But before he knew it, the dog sprinted toward him and just when Harry thought it might "attack" him as well, it sat down next to him obediently, waiting for Natalie to come back.

"Sorry about that, he's been closed for too long." she said and brushed off the dirt of her robes. In the meanwhile, the dog began running again until it was a long distance before them.

"He seems to be happier than when I saw him last." Harry noted and Natalie smiled but sighed in the same time.

"I hope so. But there are scars that will never heal. We all have them, but being in Azkaban he bears the biggest load of them." she said and Harry nodded.

"May I ask you a personal question?" he then asked, wondering if what he was about to ask was appropriate with such a short time he had known her.

"Sure." she shrugged and gave him a curious look.

"Is there something…I mean, I wondered if the change in Sirius has anything to do with…well, I noticed how you look at each other but then you mentioned Professor Lupin…" he stummered and Natalie had to supress a chuckle and put a hand onto his shoulder.

"That I did. Harry, Remus Lupin and I are like a brother and sister. There could never be anything between us except friendship. With Sirius, though…" she sighed again, thinking how she should formulate it. "With your Godfather we have very…complicated history and only after when he came back from Azkaban were we able to overcome our foolishness and become…closer." she said hesitantly.

"So…you _are_ like…going out, right?" Harry made sure and Natalie chuckled.

"If you can call being closed in a cottage "going out" than yes." she said and Harry grinned.

"Why aren't you an Auror anymore?" he wondered then.

"You know how we told you about those things happening at the Ministry during the first war? How Aurors were told rather to kill than bring the person alive? And how many people had been sent to Azkaban without a proper trial?" she asked and Harry nodded. "Harry, I used to be so keen of my job. I loved it. But these measures totally broke the sense of the job. Of course, sometimes there wasn't any other choice than go for the Killing Curse but many Aurors were as cruel as Voldemorts supporters. Some of them were taking their revenge for their loved ones, and it wasn't unheard of Aurors using the Cruciatus Curse on the suspects. And no one deserves to be whisked away straight to the Dementors without a trial. In my opinion, Crouch was just so haughty to think that his people couldn't make a mistake, that there wasn't a possibility for an innocent person to be sent to Azkaban. And just look at Sirius." She said sadly. "Just like that, it wasn't the job I used to love anymore, so a short time after Sirius had been arrested, I left and then I was changing the jobs quite often."

"Have you ever thought of getting back to being an Auror?" Harry asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I have. Apparently, during my service as an Auror, I made quite an impression and they are frequently asking me to come back. And recently, I have been thinking of accepting, despite the fact that I'll look like a blasted hypocrite. But with so many weird things going on, I think that we will be in a great need of Aurors very soon." she said grimly.

"Professor Moody told me that I would make a good Auror and I've been thinking that maybe I could try it…" he said hesitantly and Natalie beamed.

"You're bright enough to be an Auror, Harry. And from what I've heard about you, I think you would be great. Besides, if Mad-Eye Moody says you would make a good Auror, it means something." she said and Harry chuckled. "But you should know that there can't be such a thing as "trying". You must have the best notes after your seventh year; you can't just go and say: 'Oh, what if I try to become an Auror?' if you don't have the needed N.E.W.T.s for that. But you still have time for that." she patted him onto his shoulder and for a while, they both walked in silence.

"So…is that where you have crossed ways with the Malfoys?" Harry wondered then and Natalie made a grimace.

"Well, yeah. You know, Lucius Malfoy was one of suspects of being Voldemort's supporter and of killing our two great Aurors. It was my team's assigment to catch him and prove him guilty but we never managed. As a prominent person, he didn't undergo the interrogation under Veritaserum and after Voldemort vanished, he claimed he had acted under the Imperius Curse and he was discharged. That was actually the last trial I was present to and when it ended, I merely promised him to get him and ensure him a lifetime in Azkaban and for that he promised me…"

"What?" Harry asked bluntly when she trailed off, and then he scolded himself inwardly.

"He promised me to throw my Mudblood guts to Voldemort if I ever cross his way again." Natalie shrugged, seemingly indifferent.

"He did?" Harry's jaw dropped.

"Yeah. Of course, he said it so no one else heard."

"And…it doesn't make you feel nervous? Especially now, when you messed with Draco Malfoy?"

"No, Harry, it doesn't. You should know that as an Auror, you hear plenty of insults and threats and if you take them seriously, you can just pack your things and find a job as a shopkeeper. Besides, if Malfoy was really that "heroic" as he says, he would have found me straightaway and wouldn't have waited thirteen years for that."

Finally, they arrived to the place where the path was meeting the usual way from Hogsmead and they all stopped.

"All right, this is where we part." Natalie said to the three teenagers. "Harry, be sure not to hesitate to write us about anything at all. If anything happens or if you need anything, just write, ok?" she urged him and Harry nodded. Then she smiled. "We might see each other sooner than you think, I'll be watching out for the Third task."

"So…I don't reckon you know what the Third task is" Harry asked hesitantly.

"No, Harry, I don't." she said sadly. "I would have told you but Dumbledore thinks my only job is to keep an eye on the two people we talked about and so he doesn't give me any information concerning the Tournament. Sorry."

"S'alrigh." Harry said with a small smile.

Then Snuffles jumped a bit and licked Harry's cheek. Harry wiped his cheek into his sleeve and then patted the dog on the head.

"Take care, Snuffles." he said. Hermione and Ron then patted the dog as well.

"Ok, be careful." Natalie said and after a second of hesitation, she gave Harry a brief hug and though he was surprised, he didn't seem to protest. "_All_ of you." she added when she let go of her Godson and gave Ron and Hermione an intent look ant they both nodded before they all headed to Hogwarts. Swanny and Padfoot watched them until the kids disappeared from their sight and then Natalie turned to the dog.

"Let's go, Snuffles, I want to make a stop at Honeydukes." she said and they both took the road back to Hogsmead.

**Right, so Harry and Natalie finally met and we also got some of Godmother/Godson bonding. ****The meeting of Sirius in the fourth book was my favourite part in the volume and even now, it was my favourite part to write, so I hope you will like it.**


	15. 19th Nervous Breakdown

**Hello again! Here's the next update. This one's extremly short but I promise the next one will be very long. Enjoy!**

The time went by and nothing too suspicious happened. Harry was sending Sirius and Natalie owls, saying that nothing out-of-the-way had occured in Hogwarts and that Ron's brother still hadn't sent back his answer. Both Sirius and Natalie were enjoying the calm days, however, they felt it was just calmness before storm and they were living on borrowed time. And surely, it all changed one sunny day at the end of May.

It was afternoon, when they both were sprawled on the sofa. Sirius had his eyebrows furrowed as he was intently solving a crossword puzzle in the newest copy of the Prophet, while Natalie was lying on her back with her head in Sirius' lap and she was engrossed in her book she had got from Remus for Christmas. Suddenly, they were both pulled out of their leisure activities by a soft tap on the window. Natalie sat up and Sirius got up from the couch and let the owl inside. Eagerly, he took the message from his Godson and unfolded it. From habit, he expected (or more like hoped for) another message saying that nothing particular had happened but as he read, his eyes went wide. Natalie, who was watching him intently, noticed his expression and sprung up form the couch just as he finished.

"I don't believe it!" he exclaimed loudly but shakily. "Read it!" he barked at her and pressed the note into her hand. "That-…that-….he doesn't have a bit of sense in his head! Such a fool!...So much like James!" he was muttering while Natalie was reading the note herself, and he sat down on the couch again as he was still a bit shaky by recent shock. When Natalie finished the letter, she let out a breath and sat down next to him.

"Hmm" she nodded thoughtfully and Sirius gave her a sharp look.

"What 'hmm'?"

Natalie shrugged. "Well nothing…he _is_ like James. And like you." at that, she put her hand on Sirius back soothingly but he just sprung up from the sofa.

"I don't care right now. After what we were talking about, after I specifically told him not to go anywhere alone and watch out for Karkaroff and the Durmstrang Champion and he does the right opposite! How the hell could he be so reckless and go alone with Victor Krum? And to the Forbidden Forrest on top of that!" as Sirius was getting agitated, he was pacing around the room. "He's not like James. James wouldn't have been so foolish to go with Krum alone." at that, he sat down again, still shaky.

Natalie sighed. "It's not true. He would do just this and so would you. You know that." she gave him a pointed look and after a while, Sirius nodded, still looking miserable. "You should write him, he's waiting for the answer." She said.

Finally, almost an hour and plenty of crumpled parchment later, Sirius finished the letter for his Godson. "Do you want to write something to Harry?" he asked Natalie, now calmly again. Natalie read his letter and had to surpress a chuckle.

"No, I think you've got it covered." at that, Sirius furrowed his eyebrows.

"Do you think it's too harsh?" he asked.

"Well, no. I think it's parental…with how upset you were, I expected a lot bigger outburst."

"The first letters were." he pointed at the pile of crumpled parchment. Now, Natalie laughed for real, wrapping her arms around him from behind and propped her chin on his shoulder.

"Come on, let's have some supper." she said and gave him a feather-like kiss on his cheek.

"I have a meeting with Dumbledore tomorrow." she said during their meal.

"'bout C'ouch?" Sirius asked with a full mouth and Natalie rolled her eyes at his poor table manners. One would say that after twelve years in magical prison, it was to be expected; however, Natalie still had in mind their school years and knew that this was not a habit picked up in prison.

"I don't know, probably."

The other day, Natalie found out that the meeting was about Crouch only partially. Dumbledore, of course, informed her about the happenings but seemingly, it wasn't the matter he had called her for. So she expected that it would be about the Tournament but again, she was wrong; although Dumbledore informed her about the Third Task and also suggested that she might be needed on patrolls more often now, after the happenings of last night. Truthfully, Natalie was beginning to feel rather anxious because she still felt that it wasn't all what the Headmaster wanted to tell her. Finally, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and joined his fingers in front of his chin in thoughtful gesture. For a while, he was watching her with his bright blue eyes.

"Now, my dear." he said and leaned forward again. "I'm sure you and Sirius still keep an eye on recent happenings." he said.

"Of course we do." she answered and Dumbledore nodded.

"Then you surely realize the situation, beginning with Harry's scar to the late events. The disappearence of Barty Crouch was the last straw, I'm affraid."

"What are you getting at?" Natalie wondered.

"Well, Natalie, I've never hoped so much that I was wrong, but I worry that there are very difficult times expecting us, indeed. In times like these, we will need everyone who is willing to fight."

"You can count on me, Albus. You know you can." Natalie said, still very confused.

"That I know, dear. For that, I wanted to ask if you were willing to do me a favour." he said and Natalie raised her eyebrows.

"What kind of favour?"

"You surely remember how it was during the first war with the relation of the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry." he said and Natalie nodded. "If my worries come true, the Order will need as many people in the Ministry as possible. For that I wanted to ask you if you were willing to get back to your service at the Ministry." he said and Natalie didn't hide her surprise.

"I have to admit that I was thinking of it myself." she nodded.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it, my dear, because you would be even a greater asset to the Order than you are now." at that, Natalie smiled but then she paused.

"Am I to take it that you are going to re-establish the Order of the Phoenix?" she asked curiously.

"Right now, I don't have any reason to, however, I'm affraid that reason will come soon enough." Dumbledore sighed and Natalie nodded.

"I'll get to the business with the Aurors Headquaters as soon as I can." she promised.

"I am aware that with the patrolls in the Tournament, your shifts as an Auror might get rather demanding so I would like to give you some time to think it over, talk about it with someone, maybe." he gave her a knowing look. "I don't want you to decide right away. After all, the reckless decisions, although well-ment, may be the worst." he said wistfully.

"Alright, thank you, Professor."

"No, it is me whose thanks are in order, dear. So…I shall not steal your precious time spent with your, uhm…old friend anymore." he said and Natalie couldn't not notice the hint of amusement in his voice and she blushed.

"That's no problem at all. I would like to talk to Alastor Moody anyway, and maybe also…"

"Maybe also with Harry." the old wizard added with knowing expression.

"Yes." Natalie answered boldly for there was no reason to hide that she was in contact with her Godson anymore.

"Good, send him my greetings, then." Dumbledore only said.

"I will, sir." Natalie said with a slight surprise and headed to the door of Dumbledore's office. The talk with Moody was very short. She needed to ask him personally if he had found Crouch or perharps anyone else, but she was highly disappointed by his response.

When she was making her way through the corridors, she bumped into a few people she recognized. But suddenly, she saw a very familiar person - a bespectacled boy with messy jet-black hair. He was just walking down the stairs with Ron and Hermione and apparently, he hadn't noticed her at all. Right at that time, a very few students were there and no teachers at all and Natalie saw that as a perfect oportunity to talk to her Godson. Quickly, she caught up with him and from behind, she touched his shoulder. Poor Harry jumped up and turned around to see who had stratled him but he relaxed when he saw it was his Godmother.

"Constant vigilance, Harry." she said instead of a greeting. She had been rather surprised by Harry's inadequate reaction. If he wanted to become an Auror, he needed to work on this.

"Natalie? What are you doing here? I thought you said not to notice you if I see you here." he said in a hushed voice.

"No one's here. But come on." she said and pulled him into an empty classroom. "I had a meeting with Dumbledore." she explained after Ron closed the door behind them.

"What about?" Harry wondered.

"About a job. But that's not what I wanted to talk about Harry." she said, looking at him intently and to her surprise, Harry frowned.

"You wanted to finish the scolding personally?" he asked and Natalie snorted with amusement.

"No, I think your Godfather's got it covered." she said and Harry grinned. "No, I've brought you something. We thought it might come in handy." she said and reached into her robes to pull out a not so big book and gave it to Harry. When he opened it, he found out it was a handbook of hexes and protection spells.

"Thank you, that's just what I needed." he gave her a smile and she nodded.

"Yeah, we figured as much. Listen, I know that everyone says this task is just like fit for you but don't waste any time, alright?" she said carefully.

"What? Of course, I won't waste time. I'm not stupid to put it off when I know what to expect." he said and Natalie nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, I know. But still, you two will see to it, won't you?" she looked at Ron and Hermione, who instantly nodded. "Well, come to think of it, Harry, you'd promised to be extremly careful and then you did right oposite. So don't be so surprised I'm asking." she said when she saw Harry's annoyed look. "Besides, the fact I didn't come here to scold you doesn't mean I don't agree with Snuffles. You ought to be more cautious. If nothing else, then because otherwise I have to put up with a very agitated dog at home." she said and although her tone was light, her eyes got a steely look for a while and remembering her encounters with Malfoy, Harry didn't dare to do anything else but nod.

"Alright, I gotta fly." she said and winked at them as Ron grinned at the intended pun. "Take care, all of you" she said and before leaving she hesitated a bit but then gave Harry a quick hug and this time, Harry wasn't that surprised by that and accepted it gladly. Suddenly, all the annoyance with everyone's fussing over him vanished and he felt content to _have_ someone fussing over him.

**Poor Sirius, almost having a heart attack over Harry's actions. I always thought Harry ought to be more considerate about the poor bloke's nerves, as if living in a cage and feeding on rats wasn't bad enough already. But at least this time he had someone to share his shock;) I hope you liked it. Review! **


	16. Play With Fire

**Hello! I'm back. No, I didn't forget you or the story, don't worry (it kinda rhymes, yay!). Anyway, I was suffering from a writer's block for a bit – I guess that the constant visits of my family and my parents' holidays can do that to you:/ Therefore, this chapter is not as long as I expected. But I would have written it for ages, so I decided to post at least a first part of that.**

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Natalie was walking down the Hogwarts corridors with a spring in her step, pleased with the talk with her Godson. She was happy that she didn't have to pretend in front of him anymore. He knew who she was and hopefully knew he could trust her. But then she saw something that made her pause – a tall man in black robes was marching right against her. And of course she recognized the greasy hair of their former (or maybe not-so-former) foe; she wouldn't be a Marauder otherwise. Yes, she had seen him a few times during that short time she had been teaching here, but she'd never actually had to meet him. Unfortunately, there wasn't anywhere for her to hide now and she rolled her eyes at her bad luck. Luckily, there were many students in the corridor so no direct hassle was threatening but she still had no intention to go anywhere near that old bat alone. Apparently, he was thinking the same because as he was passing by, he curled his upper lip in a nasty sneering grimace and gave her such a disgusted look that even Natalie was bewildered. However, she thought, it wasn't _that_ surprising after the events of last summer, even though she hadn't taken any part on them personally. He would always connect her with James, Sirius and Remus (and she wouldn't have it any other way either). As Snape continued on his way, she let out a relieved breath and carried on as well, however, now her mind was clouded with memories. Snape hold grudges against her, not because of her association with the Marauders (well, not only) but mainly for the same reason for which he hated Remus – thinking that they took part on one stupid prank.

FLASHBACK

Actually, when Swanny thought about it, it was everything only Snape's fault. Snape's and no one else's. Indirectly also Slughorn's. It was just a few weeks before the finals. All teachers were now literally piling them into work, despite the fact that it wasn't their last year But everyone was on the edge from the amount of homework they were getting. Peter was near a nervous breakdown and Remus was now looking tired all the time, not only around full moon. Natalie wasn't her true self as she might have worked her ass off, often doing not only hers but also James's and Sirius's homework as well. And the two remaining Marauders were not in their finest mood either; all the time grumbling for not having enough time for Quidditch training and they were taking out their foul mood on the poor younger students with their endless pranks.

That day was going all wrong for Natalie. The day before she had fallen asleep in the Gryffindor Common room with her face on a heavy book, which she was using to write the Transfiguration essay that was due the other day. As she woke up, she found out that the crumpled pages of the book, together with her quill and sleeve, had left a not-so-nice pattern on her face. She rubbed her eyes tiredly but it took just one look at her watch for the tiredness to go away. She was just in time to get to the breakfast and indeed, her three friends were just making their way from their dormitory (today without Remus as he was already in the infirmary before the full moon). Quickly, she got up, trying not to look that she had just woken up. But who was she kidding? There was still an impression of her quill on her cheek as well as an ink stain.

"Morning'" James grumbled and yawned.

"Hi." she said, no less tired than him.

"Swanny what- is that a new make-up?" James grinned.

"Shut up." she said after she pulled out a small mirror and took in her appearance. "I think I'll leave out the breakfast today. Go on without me, I'll see you in the Potions class later." she said and rushed upstairs to her dorm. There she managed to fix herself a bit, washing her stained face, pulling her hair into a messy pony-tail and she had just enough time to apply some mascara before she had to run to her Potions class, ignoring the rumble in her stomach. But she arrived there even more crestfallen with the realization that she hadn't finished her essay last night. She had only a few lines; there was no way she could hand it to Professor McGonagall. With that, she came into the classroom, only to realize that with Remus gone today, she had no one to work with. Recently, it was she, Remus and Peter (since Slughorn had already permitted for Sirius and James to work together again). Wormtail had already joined Sirius and James and now she had no one to work with.

"Ah, Miss Crane, you're just on time. I see you have no partners today. So, let's see…you'll work…oh, sure, you can work here with Mr. Snape and Mr. Avery, indeed." he said cheerfully and for a while, Natalie was thinking she'd misheard. "Well? What are you waiting for, Miss? Take your seat!" Slughorn urged her. Natalie shot a desperate look to the table where Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail were sitting, but all she got were sympathetic looks. With a deep sigh, she shuffled to the table where Snape and Avery were already sitting. Snape was going to get her back for all of boys' bullying, she was sure.

Five minutes gone and she knew that not only was Snape going to get her back, he was going to make it twice as hell. For the whole time, the two Slytherins were sending jinxes at her, of course only these that Slughorn didn't notice; so every now and then her hands turned into claws and then back again, Avery sent an itching spell onto her feet so she couldn't even stand properly. When she tried to jinx them back (because she wouldn't give up without a fight), Slughorn spotted her spell and with a boring educational talk he took thirty points from Gryffindor. The top of their pranks was when they changed her quill into a snake when she took it. Natalie wasn't sure if they knew that snakes terrified her as nothing else in the world but after her escapade, during which she fell backwards over her own chair with a shriek, they sure did.

"Miss Crane, what is it with you today?" Slughorn asked incredulously.

"Nothing, sir." Natalie mumbled and got back to her work, though her hands were shaking.

"Oi, Snivellus! You're gonna regret it if you don't leave her alone!" James hissed across the room. Snape didn't even acknowledge he had heard him but his lip curled into his trademark sneer.

"So how is it, Crane?" he asked in a quiet malicious whisper. "How is it to be the one at the bad end of a wand? Not so brave when you don't have your four bodyguards around, are you?" he sneered and Avery chuckled.

"Just leave me alone, Snivellus!" Natalie shot back. "Just wait until the class is over, we will see if you are still so brave without Slughorn keeping an eye on us all."

"You may feel as heroic as you want in here, Crane. The five of you may feel like you own this place, but after school, things will be the other way round, Mudblood!" Avery noted with a sly grin and Natalie blinked several times at the name he had called her.

"Yes, Crane," Snape joined him. "who will have your back after school when your friends will be too busy to cover their own skin?"

"Shut up, Snivelly!" Natalie said sharply, not caring that her voice rang through the whole dungeon. Normally, she wouldn't have used the nickname James and Sirius liked so much to call him. Actually, she wasn't that keen of their bullying Snape at all but now, something in her snapped. At her words, her three friends looked up and watched them with interest but they couldn't make out what was said between Natalie and the two Slytherins.

"What? Are you too scared or maybe too arrogant to hear the truth? The truth is, Crane, that out there, the first who goes are Mudbloods and their families. And then Mudbloods' friends. Indeed, you're too stupid to realize that you are a threat to your friends and they're too arrogant to realize that either. For all I know, you may even not survive the summer because it has already begun." Snape said and his black eyes shone with maliciousness. These days, Natalie would strike him one right between the eyes but at that time, she couldn't manage a word and her eyes were beginning to water, although she was reluctant to let her tears fall.

"Or maybe," Avery chimed in malevolently after he glanced back at James, Sirius and Peter, who were still watching them, not even trying to pretend they were working. "it will be you who will cause the deaths of that boyfriends of yours. If they don't join the service of the Dark Lord, that is. Who knows, Mudblood, you are nothing to Dark Lord but Potter and Black – that's another story…and just with the few right curses on your account, they might be more than willing to join." at that, Natalie snorted, although her eyes were full of tears now.

"You can try all you want but they would never join that stupid lot of yours." She said boldly but both Snape and Avery just smirked.

"Say, Mudblood, do you know what Cruciatus Curse is?"

"Tsk, sure." Natalie snorted.

"No, not from stupid books, you silly little girl. I mean if you _know_ what it is." Avery hissed and Natalie blinked. How could she know the Cruciatus Curse? She was just a sixth year student. At her blank expression, Avery's smirk even broadened.

"Now, for how long do you think they would let you suffer the real pain? So you see, Crane, The Dark Lord has his ways to make people join him."

"Or maybe, they would just let you die…maybe you are way too arrogant to consider them your friends while they are only using you?" Snape chimed in. "Because they surely aren't that stupid to get themselves threatened by such an ugly little Mudblood. Except Black, Black's chances to survive this war ended by the day he got sorted to Gryffindor anyways."

By the end of the class, tears were streaming down Natalie's cheeks freely, much to an amusement of Snape and Avery, but at least she was determined not to let anyone else see them. As soon as the first sounds of the bell echoed through the dungeons, Natalie grabbed her bag and ran out of the class, not even waiting for her friends.

As James, Sirius and Peter saw Nat flow out of the classroom, they exchanged worried looks. As quickly as they could, not even bothering to hand in the sample of their unfinished potion to Slughorn or clean the table after themselves, they threw their stuff into their bags and as fast as possible, they made their way for the door. Just before they left the room, Sirius turned around at Snape without stopping so he was walking backwards but it didn't stop him from giving Snape a look full of wrath.

"You're dead, Snivellus!" he barked and quickly followed his friends. "Where could she go?" he asked when they were in the hallway.

"The Great Hall?" Peter suggested uncertainly.

"Don't be thick, Wormtail, she was obviously crying. She wouldn't go to show herself to the whole school." Sirius scolded him.

"Wait, I have the Marauders Map with me." James said and pulled out the parchment out of his bag. He carefully looked around but everyone was probably still in the classroom so he took his wand and tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." he mumbled and in a matter of seconds, the map showed itself and all three Marauders buried their noses into it. But just as they did, there was a sound of brisk steps in the hallway and they all looked up again just in time to see Lily Evans.

"Is Natalie going to be alright? I noticed Snape and Avery bullying her the whole time." she asked with concern but she still shot James an exasperated look when he immediately buried his hand into his hair to ruffle it.

"She'll be fine." Sirius answered confidently and nonchalantly but at that, Lily got angry.

"I can't believe you! She is your friend and now she needs you and you just hang out here, reading whatever-this-is!" she shot them a disgusted look and marched away.

"Gimme that thing!" Sirius barked at James, now very annoyed and exasperated, and grabbed the Map, although he still held it so his two friends could look as well. All three of them hoped Natalie wasn't in her dormitory or the loo because then they wouldn't be able to get to her.

"She's in our common room." James noted happily, when he saw that the black dot with Natalie's name was in the Gryffindor common room, which was now empty.

"Let's go, before Evans finds her herself." Sirius said and took off in direction of the Gryffindor tower.

Natalie literally flew into the Gryffindor Common room and headed to one of the armchairs that were in the very back of the room. Carelessly, she dropped her bag down on the floor and plopped down on the armchair miserably, not even bothering to wipe away her tears. This had been one of the worst classes she'd ever had. With a heartbreaking sob, she unfastened her tie as she was feeling like she was choking on that. She didn't really mind the school uniforms but she just couldn't stand the tie. Why should girls wear ties anyway?

But these thoughts now weren't the ones bothering her. She still heard Snape and Avery's words in her head and just the thought of them made her break into full sobbing. Crying was never really her thing, she always was happy-go-lucky, but this episode had really upset her. Through her sobs, she didn't even hear the painting open again, even though it literally flew open with a bang. Only when she felt someone lowering down on the armrest of her armchair, she realized she wasn't alone and she yelped.

"Natalie? Cool down, it's just us." James said, sitting down on the other armrest while Sirius sat on the other. But Natalie didn't answer, she just lowered her head and sobbed harder. "Swanny, what happened?" James asked but with that, Natalie jerked.

"Leave me alone." She mumbled. James shot Sirius a desperate look over hear head, while Peter was uncertainly standing in front of her, looking like he was ready to cry with her. At that, Sirius's eyes went wide. _He_ was supposed to do something? Of course, he had more experience with girls, even with crying girls (many times, he had even been the reason they were crying) and he just couldn't bear seeing Natalie cry any longer. With a sigh, he gently put his hand on Natalie's back. Immediately, she tensed but didn't try to shake his hand off, quite the contrary, the warmth of his touch was comforting her.

"Shhh" Sirius soothed when he saw she wasn't putting up a fight against his touch and then his hand slid around her shoulders and hugged her close. At once, Natalie's sobbing came back with a new strength and she buried her face into his robes. Sirius didn't say anything and gave his friends a look clearly saying to stay back and keep their mouths shut; he just let her cling to him. At last, after what seemed like hours to the boys; her sobbing quieted down.

"Here." James took it as his cue to hand her a handkerchief when she finally detached herself from Sirius, although his arm was still protectively wrapped around her shoulders.

"Thank you." she sniffed again and wiped her face clear of all remaining tears.

"All better now?" Sirius asked encouragingly.

"Thank you for being here. And for the handkerchief." she added with a small grateful smile and James grinned back.

"So, what did Snape do?" Peter asked and at that remark, Natalie's face contorted and for a while, it seemed she would start crying again. Both Sirius and James gave him their best glares and Peter made a step back. But fortunately, Natalie didn't start crying again, she merely sighed.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." James added quickly and for a while, Natalie wondered how was it possible that he was like a total idiot when he was around Lily Evans while he could be so caring when he wanted to.

"I'll tell you." she said after a while, then looked up again and gave Peter a look so gentle that it made him subconsciously step closer again. As quickly as she could without letting out anything important, Natalie told them about her recent incident with their arch-enemy and his friend. Her story met the exact reaction she had expected – all three boys were livid. Sirius shot up from his seat and began pacing, obviously trying to keep his temper as his fists were clenched, as well as his jaw. James stayed sitting next to her but his anger was literally radiating from him and Natalie had never seen Peter frowning so much.

Finally, James spoke up, his voice quivering in anger. "Don't worry, we will get him back, right Padfoot?" James looked at his best friend, who stopped and gave him a look. Natalie noticed that his eyes were a shade darker and had a strange glint in them. She guessed that he was still on the edge of his self-control and it was hard to tell if Prongs's words had seeped into his brain. However, all of a sudden, he marched to the painting again.

"Padfoot, where-" James called after him, all hints of his anger disappearing due to his confusion.

"Wait here!" Sirius barked, barely even turning around as he was almost running to the exit of the Common room. Sirius opened the painting so hard that it slammed into the wall with a loud bang and they could hear the scolding of Fat Lady, but apparently, he didn't give a damn about it.

"What do you think he-" Natalie trailed off worriedly and Prongs sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"No idea. Knowing Padfoot, it's something rush." he said. It was not like James was patience itself, he too often acted inconsiderately but Sirius was well known for his temper.

"I don't want you to get into trouble because of me."

"Stop that, Swanny, you know that we would die for each other; getting one detention is the least." James said.

"Besides, it wouldn't be for the first time." Peter pointed out and Natalie gave him soft sad smile.

They waited for Sirius for some time and they couldn't even see where he had gone since he had taken the Map with him. Finally, way after lunch and start of next class (which they all ditched), he came back, looking triumphantly.

"Sirius?" Natalie asked when she saw his expression. He looked almost gleefully.

"I took care of it." he said simply and Natalie's worst worries came true.

"What did you do? Beat him up? Hexed him?" she asked, almost afraid to know the truth.

"No." Sirius said nonchalantly and plopped down on the sofa, sprawling himself comfortably. He seemed to have his temper under control again; all traces of his wrath were gone. "Just pranked him a little." he said and smirked wickedly. At that, Natalie felt a bit relieved, although she still didn't like his tone and the smirk.

For the rest of the day, Sirius didn't tell his friends what he had done. In the evening, they were sitting in the common room once again, doing their homework. Sirius was scribbling with absolutely bored expression while Natalie was leaning across the table, explaining to Peter the use of pig's legs for his Potions essay. James sighed; he couldn't take it anymore.

"Padfoot, what point is it to prank someone and not tell your friends?" he asked in whining voice and Natalie and Peter looked up from their parchments. Sirius smiled the wicked grin he had worn the whole day.

"Let's just say that this night will teach him a lesson." he let out a barking laugh.

"Padfoot!" Natalie exclaimed.

"All right!" Sirius rolled his eyes at his friends. "You know how that git is always snooping around, trying to find out why Remus disappears every month?" all three remaining Marauders nodded and Sirius smirked again. "I _might_ have told him that he would find out if he went down to the secret passage under the Whomping Willow tonight." he said and comfortably sprawled in his armchair.

"But, you didn't tell him how to get there, did you Padfoot?" James asked, all traces of his conceit gone at once.

"It _might_ have slipped." Sirius shrugged innocently and James sprung up from his seat, Natalie following him closely.

"Please, Padfoot, tell me you're joking." James said.

"Why?" Sirius said incredulously. "It will only serve him right."

At that, James took off. Natalie didn't wait for anything but grabbed Sirius's wrist and followed Prongs, dragging Sirius along in the process while Peter was sprinting behind them. James had already a head start (he could run really quickly if he wanted to), and with a slip he stopped at the Whomping Willow, where he already found lying a long pole. Not waiting for Wormtail to push the knot on the trunk, he rather used the pole and when the rest of his friends arrived to the Willow, he was already climbing inside.

"Wait here!" he ordered them and Natalie nodded. She and Peter were no use against the werewolf and Sirius didn't seem to be willing to help. The minutes dragged excruciatingly slowly and during that time, Natalie was standing close to Peter, leaving Sirius a few feet away, although it didn't stop her from giving him her best glare.

"Come on, Swanny, after what he told you-" Sirius said but Natalie cut him off.

"Shut up, Black! We're not talking about it here!" she hissed and Sirius's eyes went wide. She had never called him Black, not even when she hadn't really known him and he had acted like a prat to her. And truthfully, it hurt to hear her say his name in such a manner.

Finally, James appeared at the entrance of the passage, dragging Snape with him. The Slytherin immediately wrenched away from James's grasp and took off to the castle. To the Head Master, no doubt.

"Let's go." James said, sounding strained and exhausted. No one said a word while slowly following Snape to the castle. On their way, James gave Sirius a desperate look and grabbed his best friend's shoulder to keep him some distance behind Natalie and Peter.

"Going to tell me how I screwed up, Prongs?" Sirius said acidly.

"No." James said immediately. "I think that in the next hour, a lot of people will be telling you how you screwed up, Padfoot. I just wanted to tell you that I know why you did it. I hate Snivellus as well. What he told Natalie…but I just couldn't let you go to Azkaban, mate." he said and Sirius was stunned for a while.

"Thanks." he said after a while, suddenly feeling ashamed, although he still didn't feel guilty for 'pranking' Snape.

"You don't have to thank me for that. Although, don't think I won't kick your stupid ass when we get into the castle." James said and even though his tone was joking, he was being serious.

"I think there will be someone else to do that gladly for you." Sirius said after a while, looking darkly at his two other friends in front of him. James followed his look and sighed.

"Is she that mad?" he asked.

"Beyond livid. She…she called me 'Black'" Sirius said, sounding as if she had called him something very obscene instead.

"So?" James didn't understand what the problem actually was and Sirius gave him a desperate look (something which was rarely seen).

"Prongs, she never calls me Black. Never. And she used that name as if it was the expression for the lowest scum."

"She didn't mean it like that, Padfoot." James said and they both quietly continued on their way to the castle.

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**Alright, so here was the first part. Originally, I wasn't willing to split a chapter in the middle of a flashback, but as I had said before – I wanted to post at least something after such a long time. And I promise that the next chapter with the rest of the flashback will be very soon. Anyway, what do you think? How will Natalie react?**


	17. Have Mercy On Me

**Sorry for the delay! I had to help with some reconstruction in our house so I didn't really have time to work on the story. But here it is. And I want to thank for your reviews – they always make my day.**

**By the way, has anyone of you seen photos of young Keith Richards (from the 60s)? Because you might want to know, that I'm writing this story picturing young Sirius just like young Keith. They appearance (except the eyes, course) and also the personality – they both seem to be rebellious and a bit haughty, don't they? Besides, even from later years they seem very alike to me – I think that a decade in Azkaban and decade on drugs can do just about the same damage to you. But that's just so you know my point of view, you're of course free to picture your own Sirius Black:) Ok, end of my blurbs, on with the story…**

When the Marauders arrived at their common room again, they found out that it was still full of Griffindors so they couldn't't really talk privately. When Natalie saw that, she started for the boys' dormitory without asking and they followed her wordlessly.

"I suppose he saw him." she turned to James, doing her best to ignore Sirius.

"Yeah." her friend said quietly and ran his hand through his hair.

Natalie nodded. "You do realize what you've done, don't you?" she finally turned to Sirius and all her demeanour suddenly changed. Now, she didn't seem like the soft-spoken, intellectual and fun-loving friend. Her tone was crisp and her eyes stone cold.

"I protected you. Maybe I didn't choose the right way but-"

"Didn't choose the right way? You bloody blabbed Remus' secret to Snape! And you could have got yourself thrown into Azkaban! What you've done today one could consider an attempted murder!" she yelled and neither Peter nor James dared to look at her. Sirius stood there, dejected, and suddenly looked as if she had slapped him instead. He no longer looked like that haughty prat all girls in Hogwarts were drooling over.

"It was a prank!" he defended himself, although it sounded rather weakly.

"No, Sirius, it was not! You knew pretty bloody well what would happen if Snape had found him there. He wouldn't have stood a chance!"

"So what!" Sirius' voice got a bit stronger. "It would have served him right after what he told you. Or did you think I would let him get away with it? I did it for you!" he said angrily. At that, Natalie gasped but from his numerous fights with Lily, James knew it wasn't a good kind of sigh.

"For me? Oh, so now I should feel flattered? Or maybe guilty?" she exclaimed but at her last words she paused. "Maybe I should." she said, her tone now more quiet, and she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Sirius' look snapped up when he heard her.

"What? No! None of this was your fault!" he exclaimed as well and in a second he was right in front of her. "Nat? I did it _for_ you, not _because_ of you." he said and tried to wrap his arms around her but suddenly she pushed him away.

"Don't touch me, Black!" she yelled at him and he backed slowly. James and Peter were watching them with slack-jawed. None of them had ever seen Natalie in such a distress. "You know what's worst? That you weren't even able to do that yourself! Instead, you would have let Remus tear him to shreds, knowing how he would feel afterwards. That's what making me sick."

"If Remus knew what Snape had told you, he would have done that himself!" Sirius shot back and Natalie narrowed her eyes.

"But it would have been his choice." she hissed. Sirius didn't say anything else because right at that moment, the door of their dormitory opened, revealing Professor McGonagall. She seemed angrier than anyone had ever seen her (including their drunken escapade), as she told them all to follow her.

They followed Professor McGonagall wordlessly, not even Sirius was up to his jokes at that moment. On their way to Dumbledore's office, Natalie had time to think about everything what had happened. Truthfully, she was still shocked. She would have never thought that Sirius could be able to do something like that. But then she remembered his words: '_I did it for you_;' he had said and only now, those words really penetrated her brain. She bit her lip nervously. What would have she done in Sirius' place? She still saw that mad gleam in his eyes after she had told him about Snape. What would have she done, had she been in such an emotional state as Sirius had been? James had reminded her that they would die for each other (although it was something she had already known). She would gladly give up her life for any of her friends, but would she kill for them? Yes. However, she would choose another way and never threaten her other friend in the process.

Her head was beginning to pound from all that thinking, and she tiredly rubbed her forehead. Oh, how she wished this day never happened. With a painful stab she realized, what Sirius was probably standing against. Suddenly, she felt tears in her eyes and the feeling of guilt was practically piercing her heart.

Professor McGonagall stopped abruptly in front of the gargoyle to Headmaster's office.

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with you individually." she barked at them. "Mr. Pettigrew, please follow me." she said to Peter and after she said the password '_Martini with olive,_' the entrance opened and Wormtail reluctantly stepped inside with Professor, giving a hesitant look to his friends.

"Listen, I don't want you to cover up for me. I did what I did and I'm not sorry for that." Sirius said, more to James than to Natalie and even then he looked at her nervously in fear of her reaction. Natalie didn't look at him because she feared she would burst in tears again. She turned away quickly and leaned against the wall, hugging herself. Sirius sighed, realizing she wasn't even able to look at him.

"I know what to say, Padfoot." James said quietly and then they all fell into an uncomfortable tense quiet.

The time was ticking slowly and it seemed like ages before Peter came out of Dumbledore's office, looking even more distressed than usually. Again, he was followed by Professor McGonagall, who didn't look even a bit less angry than before, which only worsened their worries.

"Mr. Pettigrew, head immediately into your dormitory and stay there!" she barked and poor Peter didn't even try to contradict her (not that he ever had). "Mr. Potter, you're next." she said sharply and James clenched his jaw and followed her resolutely. As he disappeared on the staircase behind the gargoyle, Sirius sighed, crouched down and leaned back against the wall. He looked at Natalie, who was pacing across the hallway, still hugging herself as if she was cold. But she didn't even give him a glance. Suddenly, Sirius realized that this could be his last chance to make everything right between them.

"Are you going to ignore me forever?" Sirius suddenly asked her and she stopped in her pacing. Very slowly, Natalie looked up and gave him a look. With a surprise, Sirius saw that her eyes were full of sadness as they were glistening with tears, not hate and resentment as he had expected. But she didn't say a word; she just looked away and bore her eyes into the floor again. Sirius, encouraged by the emotions he had seen in her eyes, attempted to talk to her again. "Blossom, I-" he said but at that Natalie's head snapped up again. This time the tears were threatening to fall but there was also a hint of anger in her look once again. She raised her hand to silence him.

"Don't. Just don't. Please." she said quietly. Right now, Sirius would be happier if she had just slapped him, punched him or kicked him until he was unconscious. Anything but this. She was obviously hurt and he was the one to blame. The wound that Snape had inflicted was now ten times worse and just because of him. Sirius now wouldn't beg to differ if he got the worst punishment because hurting her was something he hated himself for, more than he hated Snape himself. He didn't try to talk to her anymore; he merely stared into the floor dully, not really noticing his surroundings.

Natalie wiped her eyes and began pacing again because she would go mad if she stayed in one place just for two seconds. She really couldn't take anymore talking to Sirius. She was already so confused that she couldn't even say what she was feeling right now. Did she hate him? No, of course not. She could never hate him…. It was strange. One of her half wanted to punch him to knock some sense into him, to show him how angry she really was, to hurt him for hurting Remus (because that was truly the fact that was bothering her at most). But the other part of her wanted nothing more than fling herself into his arms and hold him for a dear life because she just couldn't bear the though of losing him

_Damn you, Sirius Black_, she thought angrily. She hated what he was doing to her. She had never been one to lose hear coolness like this. She had always been the sensible one. She had always known what to do but now, when she was lost in her crazy emotions, there was no one to tell her what to do and she needed to decide quickly. No one could help her right now. Not even James, or other of the Marauders; not Lily (her only girl friend) and not her grandparents.

But all of a sudden, the dread she was feeling began to fade away and she stopped abruptly. At once, a new feeling was coming to her – determination. She had cried enough already and as she had said, she was the sensible one, right? Just for a split second, she dwelled over her quickly changing emotions but she figured out, it was the disadvantage of her age. What did she need now? Firstly, she needed to decide what she was going to say to Dumbledore. She knew that the best thing to do was to talk to him openly. If she was entirely opened, what did she feel about that whole thing at first?

_Guilt_, a quiet voice in the back of her head quipped. Yes, that was it. Fairly, it was her fault. Didn't she know Sirius well enough to predict how would he react? Hadn't she always proudly claimed how well she knew all the boys? Then why didn't she consider Sirius' temper which was infamous? If she had been able to hold back those silly girly emotions of hers and hadn't babbled what Snape had told her, everything would be just fine. Why hadn't she listened to James when he had said she didn't have to tell them? Oh, how would she appreciate a Time turner right now.

Suddenly, the entrance to Dumbledore's office opened again and James came out, looking contemplative, as if he was still wondering if what he had said was right.

"Mr. Potter, go to your dormitory. Straightaway!" McGonagall ordered. James just nodded and left. "Miss Crane, please." the Transfiguration Professor motioned for her and Natalie nodded. On her way, she didn't give Sirius a glance, not because she was still angry but because she just wanted to keep her head cool. What McGonagall didn't see was that as soon as the Gargoyle jumped back in its place, the messy-haired boy peeked around the corner to see if it was safe to join his best mate again.

In the meanwhile Natalie was trying to stay as calm as possible but her hands were sweating. She came into Dumbledore's office and with a shaky voice, she mumbled a greeting.

"Good evening, Natalie. Please take a seat." Dumbledore said but there wasn't even a hint of smile on his face. Natalie did as she was told and in the meanwhile, Professor McGonagall moved to stand next to Dumbledore's desk. "Miss Crane, you surely are aware of the reason why I need to talk to you in such a late hour." Dumbledore said. At first, Natalie wanted to answer yes but then she held herself back.

"Actually, it would be better if you reminded me." she said, in a rather blunt voice but she bore her eyes on some parchment on Dumbledore's table instead of the Headmaster's eyes. The old wizard sighed.

"Mr. Snape came to me with a very strange story. He claimed that Mr. Black told him to go to a secret passageway under the Whomping Willow. But we both know what he found there, don't we, Natalie?" he said sadly and Natalie bit her lip and looked up. She felt she didn't need to answer this question.

"Miss Crane, we want you to tell us exactly what happened tonight." Professor McGonagall said sharply and Natalie drew in a deep breath and nodded.

"I will tell you exactly what happened _today_ because it is an essential for you to understand everything. Professors, everything that happened tonight was my fault." she said and looked straight into Dumbledore's eyes. He seemed surprised by her forwardness and raised his eyebrows in puzzlement but motioned for her to continue.

"Today, I was almost late for my Potions class." she began but at that, Professor McGonagall pursed her lips even tighter.

"Miss Crane, when we said to tell us what happened, we meant only relevant facts." she barked but Dumbledore raised his index finger.

"Just let her speak, Minerva. Sometimes, even the tiniest details make the story." he said. "Just continue, Natalie." he said and Natalie nodded.

"Yes, I was almost late and when I arrived, I didn't have anyone to work with. So Professor Slughorn made me work with Snape and Avery." she said and frowned at that memory but she still carried on and told everything that Snape and Avery had said to her. At the end, both professors were horrified, to say the least.

"Miss Crane!" McGonagall gasped, all of her angry demeanour gone instantly. Natalie realized that James and Peter probably hadn't told her about it. "You should have gone to me straightaway! Such a behaviour of students is unacceptable!" she exclaimed and Dumbledore was frowning. After all, he supported the Muggle-born students at most.

"I should have. If I had, Sirius wouldn't have been in such a mess right now." Natalie answered, although she thought that it was possible Sirius would be in a mess of some kind anyway - he had a real talent for that. "But I didn't. Instead, I told about it to my friends and of course, they were beyond angry and-"

"And that is the reason young Mr. Black told Mr. Snape how to get under the Willow." Dumbledore cut in and Natalie nodded. Dumbledore sighed and leaned against his desk. "Miss Crane, I understand now Mr. Black's motives but I want you to explain to me why do you think it is your fault?"

"I'm guilty by inconsideration and unacquaintance of my friends, Sir. I should have known Sirius would react right that; he is famous for his temper. When I told my friends about what Snape had said, both James and Peter were angry but Sirius is so overprotective of me that he felt the need to act." She couldn't believe she was talking about this with the Headmaster! "Truthfully, I would have acted the same way if someone threatened to hurt my friends, Sir. We all would. I don't say this as an excuse. I'm the last one to excuse him easily because Remus is my dearest friend and Sirius hurt him because of me. I'm not excusing him sir, but now when you heard all the facts, I beg you to re-consider it all." she said and looked straight into the headmaster's eyes.

"I assure you I will." Dumbledore said "Thank you, Miss Crane, that would be all." he said then and Natalie got up.

"Miss Crane?" McGonagall called after her when Natalie was about to leave.

"Yes, Professor?" she asked and Professor McGonagall joined her on the moving stairs out of Dumbledore's office.

"Be careful around Mr. Black." she said sharply but this time, she had a strange, almost sympathetic look.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're saying you're not excusing him but still, you've done what you could to get him out of trouble. I can see you feel for that boy but he's trouble. I remember you were an exemplary student but ever since you got together with Potter, Black and co., you are going from trouble to trouble." She said and Natalie blushed. Suddenly, the stairs were moving way too slowly to her liking.

"Thank you, Professor, but only ever since I got together with them I've been myself." she said and finally, the exit opened for them and they stepped outside. There was waiting Sirius and neither Natalie nor Professor McGonagall were surprised to find James with him as well.

"Mr. Black, follow me. Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to you about your actions." she barked at him, without any traces of the tone she had spoken to Natalie with, and stepped on the moving staircase again. Sirius sighed and got up from the floor to follow her.

"Good luck, mate." James patted him on his shoulder and Sirius only barely nodded, his look fixed on Natalie. He was dying of curiosity to know what had she told to Dumbledore about him but he supposed he would find out soon enough. With a heavy heart he sighed again when he realized he was probably about to be kicked out of school, which meant he wouldn't talk to her in civilized manner ever again.

Natalie looked at him sadly and hoped that Dumbledore would consider what she had told him. When she looked at Sirius, she realized how crestfallen he suddenly looked. He wasn't that conceited git anymore, he actually looked as if he was about to cry. At that realization, her throat clenched with emotions. In a moment, she decided that he needed at least a bit of hope and as he was passing by her, she coughed his wrist. Sirius turned at her but before he managed to ask what it was about, she caught him by surprise and gave him a kiss on his cheek. It wasn't any kind of romantic kiss, just a friendly peck on a cheek but nevertheless, it lifted his spirits considerably and he entered Dumbledore's office proudly, with square shoulders and chin up.

Both Natalie and James were watching the Gargoyle leap into its place again. James wondered if he was about to see his best mate again as his schoolmate. What would he do if Sirius got kicked out? Well, he would probably leave as well. Although it would definitely ruin his chances to become an Auror, Hogwarts just wouldn't be the same without Padfoot. What had Natalie told them? When she had stepped out, her face didn't let them know anything. But she had kissed Sirius, right? Surely, she wouldn't do it had she been still angry with him.

Neither of them spoke but James gave her a sideway glance and Natalie noticed and being Natalie, she immediately got what it was about.

"I wasn't that angry to get him kicked out of school, James, you know?" she said quietly and immediately, the raven-haired boy felt shame for even thinking that in the back of his mind.

"What did you tell them?" he wondered and Natalie gave him an intent look.

"The truth." she said eventually. "The _whole_ truth." she added. "But I suppose you didn't tell them about the incident at Potions." She trailed off. If James was so keen to help Sirius, then why hadn't he told them?

"I figured it was your thing to do. Wasn't sure if you wanted them to know because…well, you had the whole day to let them know and you didn't do anything…"

"I told them." Natalie cut him off. "I told them everything."

"Good." James said. "Where you're going?" he asked when Natalie turned around and walked away. "You're not gonna wait?" he wondered.

"No." Natalie gave him one last look and a slight smile and headed to their common room. More than anything, she now wished to be alone, just for a short while, just to settle her thoughts and emotions. She plopped down on one sofa tiredly and closed her eyes for a while. She stayed like that for a while, relaxing, when her eyebrows furrowed again as she realized that poor Remus was still out there in his werewolf form. He had had to transform by himself, without their help and presence. To the nagging guilt over the whole Sirius escapade was now joined even by the guilty feeling of leaving her best friend like that.

She didn't know for how long had she been sitting there like that but suddenly, the painting opened and James and Sirius crawled inside.

"Hey! I don't know what you told them but it worked. I got off." Sirius grinned and James, wearing the same grin, patted him on his back.

"Yeah, he's got every punishment possible but he's staying."

But Natalie didn't pay him any attention; instead, she looked at Sirius intently.

"Why would you think it's because of me?" she asked him, and for some reason she sounded almost indignant.

"Dumbledore said he made up his mind after the talk with you." Sirius shrugged, still smiling as he either didn't notice it or ignored it.

"Right." Natalie said and got up. "Then I guess you're welcome." she said nonchalantly and was about to take her leave.

"Where are you going?" Sirius wondered and his smile froze. He had thought that it was all right between them again, or at least better. She had kissed him, right? Only on his cheek but you don't go and kiss someone you can't stand.

"To bed." She said curtly.

"What? Wait!" he called after her and she turned around at him, looking annoyed.

"What is it?"

"You- You acting as if you wanted me to get removed out of here."

"Don't be ridiculous, Sirius." She snapped.

"Nat?" James raised his eyebrows in puzzlement.

"Blossom, what-" Sirius didn't get to finish his sentence because Natalie cut him off.

"What the hell did you think, Sirius? That just because you got punished from Dumbledore then everything is alright between us?"

"No, I more guessed it by that kiss!" Sirius snapped at her as well.

"I didn't say we're not friends!" Nat said as loudly as he did but then her voice suddenly softened. "We are. But truthfully, I don't know if it's ever going to be same between us, Sirius. I thought I knew you. I thought you knew how far to go with that pranks of yours, that you would never intentionally hurt anyone but I guess I was wrong, wasn't I?"

"Nat, I already told you, I did it for you-" he said but Natalie stopped him with a raised hand

"Stop that, Sirius. Do you think I don't know that? And do you have any idea how does that make me feel? Do not say that anymore because I feel guilty enough even without you to rub it in my face!"

"Blossom, that's not how I meant it!" Sirius defended desperately.

"But I don't care, Sirius! Just stop it!" she whined "…and please, don't call me Blossom." she said sadly.

Sirius looked as if she had slapped him and he was in such a desperate state that he didn't even try to get back his composure.

"Nat, please, tell me what I should do to fix it and I will." he begged. James watched this exchange with astonishment. Of course, he knew that there was a strong friendship between those two but he had never realized how intense their feelings for each other were. It almost seemed to him as if he was watching Lily and himself, and he knew that his feelings for the redhead were _very_ intense. Suddenly, he realized that Sirius had always a thing for her, although he never let anyone know about it (unlike James, who talked about Lily on daily basis). James felt bad for his best mate as he knew exactly how he was feeling right now. If he had feelings for Natalie, than this must be even more excruciating for him than waiting in front of Dumbledore's office to be expelled.

Natalie just sighed "It will take time, Sirius. I- I don't know if I can trust you anymore."

"You know you can-"

"No! I thought I could. Alright, for first, you could start with an apology." she said eventually and Sirius sighed with relief.

"I'll apologize to you hundred times if it helps." he said but Natalie scowled at him.

"I don't want you to apologize to me. There's someone else you hurt." she said pointedly and Sirius gaped at her but then he frowned.

"No way! Whatever you want but I'm not apologizing to Snivellus!" Sirius said sharply and couldn't help but sneer with the mention of the nickname and James had to agree with him, though he didn't dare to voice his opinion. He was already feeling as if he was intruding anyway but on the other hand, he couldn't leave them like that.

Natalie's eyes narrowed. "I didn't mean Snape!" she almost spat the name. "I meant Remus. Remember? The friend who you hurt? I'll help you remember – right now he is alone and most likely in pain in the Shrieking Shack and a bloody Slytherin (Snape of all people), knows his secret." She said and Sirius bit his lip as guilt was slowly creeping into his stomach. Remus wasn't going to be very pleased with him, he might as well prepare for a fight with another friend.

"Right, while you're trying to come up your arguments for facing Moony, I'm going to bed. Good night. Good night, James." she gave Prongs the slightest smile, which barely lifted the corners of her mouth, let alone reach her eyes, and left for her dormitory.

END OF FLASHBACK

Natalie sighed. Since then, she had hated Snape even more than before. She hadn't even been trying to tell James and Sirius off when they had been bullying him anymore. She realized that if it hadn't been for Snape, she and Sirius would have probably got together much sooner and maybe everything would be different now. But it hadn't been the same between Sirius and her for a long, long time since then. It took them a few years to regain the strength of the bond they had once shared.


	18. You Can Make It If You Try

**Uff, so I literally forced myself to write this ****as it's been such a long time since the last update. But don't worry, I still love the story and intend on continuing; it was just a small writer's block… or maybe laziness, I don't know (sometimes, these two things are so easily confused for each other). Anyway, here's another one, sorry for the long wait.**

When Natalie arrived to Hogsmead, it was already dark and she slipped inside unnoticed by anyone. The living room was lit only by a light from the fire in the fireplace since it would be too dangerous for Sirius to light up more lights but it was enough for her to see him sitting in an armchair near the fireplace, reading a newspaper. Hearing her slip inside, he looked up and put the paper aside.

"You'll need glasses soon if you continue reading like this." she said instead of greeting and sat down in his lap.

"Do you think glasses wouldn't suit me?" he gave her a small smile.

"You would look like Dumbledore." she teased him and ran her hand through his hair while she wrapped her other arm around his neck.

"Speaking of which, what did he want?" Sirius asked

"Well, we have something to talk about. Or, actually, I already decided but I still think I should tell you."

"What is it?" he furrowed his eyebrows, slightly worried.

"It's nothing bad. Dumbledore just suggested that it might be good if I returned to being an Auror."

"Really?" Sirius asked and arched his eyebrows even more. This was not what he had been expecting. From her talking about the Aurors, he figured she was absolutely against the idea of going back, but now it sounded as if she was keen on it.

"Uh-huh" she nodded "He said that there's a real possibility of re-establishing the Order of the Phoenix. If that happens, the more people from the Order working for the Ministry, the better." she explained, still playing with his hair.

"That is truth but…didn't you say you didn't want to return to being an Auror again?"

"Well…yeah but, I think I changed my mind, you know? This whole year we have spent here and while I kept patrols in the school, I realized how much I have been missing it, no matter how much I don't agree with some of the rules. And just sitting here, reading in Prophet about all those weird things and not being able to do anything about it, it really…irks me." she said and at that, he chuckled slightly, absolutely understanding what she meant.

"I know, love, me too." He leaned his head on her shoulder, enjoying the feeling of her touch.

"So, I was thinking I would accept it. I want to be where the things happen and if it helps to the Order, all the better."

"Is Dumbledore really re-establishing the order?" Sirius looked up at her and Natalie shrugged.

"Well, he said that for now, there is no need but I have a feeling that he's all ready to contact everyone after one slight impulse." she said. Then she got up and started rummaging through their desk.

"What are you doing?" He asked when she sighed in frustration.

"Looking for a parchment. Don't tell me you've wasted it all." she gave him a look.

"What? No, of course not. Some parchment's on the table." he said and when Natalie saw that the whole table was snowed with blank and slightly crumpled parchment, she sighed in annoyance. He was never going to learn not to leave mess. First, she just wrote a very short message to Dumbledore, informing him of accepting the job, although she left out all specifics, and the longer letter was addressed to the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. When she sent both letters, she finally could go take a shower and then go to bed.

The answer from the Ministry came three days later, and truthfully, they was ecstatic to hear that the former Auror was returning to work, and to Natalie's relief, they didn't question her reasons for such a sudden comeback. According to the letter, she was supposed to come to the Ministry the next day to meet Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was a fellow Auror and would discuss her work-schedule with her. Therefore, the next day she found herself shovelling breakfast at seven in the morning.

"I don't know why are you even bothering - you know well that there's no one really competent in Auror's Headquarters before ten a.m." Sirius said instead of a good morning when he sleepily shuffled into the kitchen.

"Good morning to you too." Natalie said cheerfully. "And how would you know when you were always the one coming last to work?" she teased him and being it so early, not even the infamous Marauder could come up a witty remark. Instead, he just grumbled something incoherent and poured a cup of coffee from a pot.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Natalie said when she finished her breakfast and looked into a mirror for one last time before setting off. She gave him a sweet kiss and then went to their fireplace and took a pinch of the Floo powder.

"Good luck." Sirius said, as he had already gained some of his strength from the morning cup of coffee.

"Thanks." She gave him a smile and threw the powder into the fire. "Ministry of Magic." she shouted and a while later, she was spat out in a familiar huge marble room - the lobby of the Ministry. She made her way to the reception desk to get a visitor badge, hoping it was the first and last time she was doing that. Then she went the well-known way to the elevator and squeezed in with a bunch of other people. When the elevator stopped in the second level, Natalie got off and headed straight for the Auror Headquarters rather than the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, looking for Kingsley. As she entered the Headquarters, she had to chuckle because it was just the same as she remembered it – complete mess. The cubicles were a mishmash of family pictures and photos of wanted criminals, everyone was chatting rather than working (she even had to dodge a colourful ball that two young Aurors throwing to each other) and the amounts of fliers made it hard to concentrate. Finally, Natalie found the cubicle of Kingsley Shackelbot, and was a little shocked by the fact that everywhere in his cubicle there were photos of Sirius.

Kingsley seemed pleased to see her as he shook her hand firmly and then led her to a quieter office so they could talk.

"I can't tell you how glad I'm you decided to return." he said and Natalie smiled at her former colleague. "Right now, brilliant Aurors is just what we need." Natalie noticed just how tired he looked.

"How so?"

"Half of the Aurors are still working on the case of Sirius Black and recently, it just looks as if everyone has gone crazy. Aurors have to be called even to the silliest cases. Just yesterday, two neighbours were sending curses at each other from their houses. They alarmed the whole neighbourhood, including Muggles, just because of some "VT cable" or how did they call it." Kingsley grumbled and Natalie didn't even try to correct him.

Finally, they came to the fact she had come there for – her becoming an Auror. It wasn't really a problem; Kingsley had already showed her the cubicle and gave her a work-schedule. She still had her Auror crimson-red robes and she already knew the rules so there was nothing else to discuss.

So Natalie had become an Auror again and frankly, she couldn't be happier. Sure, her shifts together with her patrolling the corridors could get exhausting but she was glad not to be closed inside anymore. And besides, though Sirius was rather sulking for being there alone, they both seemed to appreciate much more the time spent together than they had before.

But as the time was closing to Harry's Third task, both of them were getting more and more anxious. But both Natalie and Sirius were sending Harry letters daily. Harry himself seemed to be more nervous about the strange happenings than the third task, which was understandable, but both Sirius and Natalie knew that these things were connected. Poor Sirius was now like a caged dog. At least, Natalie had work to do, although none of the cases she worked on as an Auror was relevant (at least they assumed so); at least she got to patrol the corridors and watch out for the Third task. But all Sirius could do was to sit inside and look for information in the papers.

Finally, the day of the Third task came. Natalie was glad to have a day off work so she could be there for the Task. She got up very early; slightly surprised she wasn't the first one to get up. But the spot in bed beside her was untouched and she supposed that Sirius hadn't gone to bed at all. But she wouldn't know as the night before, they got into a big shouting match - over none other reason than Sirius himself. Natalie had confessed her worries over him going to Hogwarts for the Third task but Sirius insisted and soon, their talk transformed into a very heated argument. The whole fight ended with compromise – Sirius could go but he promised to stay aside, behind Hagrid's hut. But although they came to a conclusion, Natalie'd had no desire to spend the rest of the evening with him and she'd gone to bed.

When she got dressed and came to the kitchen, she was surprised to find there her lover waiting for her with breakfast.

"Good morning." he kissed her. "I made a breakfast." he gestured to the table.

"Thank you." she gave him a small smile and kissed his cheek before she sat down to the table. Although everything was alright between them, the breakfast was quiet as they both were lost in their own thoughts and worries.

"I have to go. I want to see Harry first and then I want to talk to Mad-Eye before the Task." she said and got up. "When are you coming?" she asked Sirius when he got up as well.

"After dusk." he said and Natalie nodded, suddenly feeling nervous although the Task was beginning in the evening. "Say Hi to Harry and be careful."

"You too." she said and before she left, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a comforting hug, since she needed the comfort herself as well.

She arrived to Hogwarts just in time to get into the adjoining room of the Great Hall, where she would meet Harry. She had talked about it with Dumbledore and he'd agreed that she could see him during the meeting of the Champions with their families. As she was waiting in the room, together with the families of other Champions, another pair suddenly arrived. It was a redhead witch with a young man, also redhead. Immediately, Natalie knew who it was (the hair colour was unmistakable) and she smiled slightly at the knowledge that Harry did have someone else to care about him.

"Oh, poor Harry, can you imagine-" the woman was saying but she paused when Natalie came to them with a polite smile.

"Hello, I'm sorry to interrupt but…you must be Mrs. Weasley – Ron's mother." she said and the woman seemed to be taken aback.

"Well….yes, I am. How do you know our Ron?" she said with surprise. Natalie nodded and held out her hand.

"It's very nice to meet you; I'm Natalie Crane – Harry's Godmother." She said quietly so the others didn't hear. "I had the honour to meet Harry's friends and I'm glad to know that you care so much about my Godson." she explained.

"I- I, well, yeah, that we do but…I didn't know Harry's got a Godmother." she trailed off.

"Yes. Unfortunately, there were some issues for which I wasn't able to contact Harry sooner." she explained and Mrs. Weasley nodded but Natalie's sharp senses told her that Mrs. Weasley wasn't that certain she should believe the younger woman. It took a while before Harry came, (the other Champions were there for a while already) but finally, after Cedric Diggory called him, Harry came hesitantly into the room, an apprehensive look on his face. As he entered, he scanned the room before his eyes rested on Mrs. Weasley and Bill and he finally smiled. Since Natalie was standing a bit aside, leaning against a wall, Harry didn't notice her yet.

"Mrs. Weasley, Bill!" he said happily and made his way to them and Mrs. Weasley immediately hugged him.

"You didn't expect us, did you dear?" Mrs. Weasley said and Harry shook his head.

"For a while I thought…maybe Dursleys." Mrs. Weasley's smile froze. Natalie herself could feel her heartbeat quicken up at the thought of Harry's relatives but she repressed her emotions.

"And what about your Godmother, didn't you expect her?" she said with a smile and at that, Harry's head whipped to the side so he finally spotted her and smiled again. Natalie saw that Mrs. Weasley was watching Harry's expression carefully, as if looking for the smallest sign in the boy's face that Natalie had been lying about her relationships with the him. But Harry seemed to be sincerely glad to see her.

"Hullo, Natalie!" he grinned as she gave him hug as well.

"How you feeling, Pronglet?" she asked him and Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Pronglet?" Instead of an answer, Natalie gave him a wink. "Nervous." he admitted and Natalie nodded.

"Understandable. Did you train everything? Oh, of course you did."

"Yeah, I guess I did. How's Snuffles?" he asked and Natalie rolled her eyes playfully.

"Trouble." she said and Harry grinned. "All right, Harry, I just came to wish you good luck and say Hi from Snuffles. I should go now."

"Won't you be here for the Task?" Harry asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable that his Godmother should miss the Task.

"Of course I will. I wouldn't miss the tasks for anything." Then, Natalie leaned down so she was on Harry's level. "You'll be alright, Harry; I know you will. And…just so you know, James would be so proud of you right now. Your mom would be probably worried sick, but James would boast about his brave son." Natalie said and Harry had to swallow because suddenly his throat tightened.

"Thank you." He croaked.

"You have nothing to thank me for, Harry. Just promise me and Padfoot you'll be careful." Natalie said and Harry nodded.

"Alright, I have to go now; I have some work to do." She gave him a meaningful look and Harry nodded again, still not trusting himself to speak. Natalie hugged him again then. "Once again, good luck. I'll leave you in the care of the Weasley's." Natalie added, now louder, and smiled at the older woman and once again held out her hand. "It was nice meeting you." Natalie said and got a slight smile from Mrs. Weasley before she left looking for Mad-Eye Moody.


	19. Look What You've Done

**Great! I managed another one. ****Once again, I'm so sorry about the long wait. I won't bother you with a long chatter, just enjoy it.**

_We were right_, Natalie thought about thirty minutes into the task, when the first fountain of red sparks appeared. Although it didn't take very long to retrieve the Beauxbatons Champion from the maze, it still left Natalie more than concerned. The girl had been stupefied – no creature or trap in the maze could have done that. Which could mean only one thing: either one of the Champions had been the culprit, or some intruder. This was exactly what Natalie and Sirius had been worried about the whole time; the Tasks made the perfect opportunity to hurt Harry and in their opinion, this last Task even provided the attacker enough of secrecy.

Another set of red sparks appeared above the maze just a short while later, and this time, Viktor Krum had been found. And Krum's state made Natalie bite her lip with worry while she was rounding the maze, looking for a possible intruder, but finding none so far. As she rounded a corner of the maze, she came face to face with Mad-Eye Moody, who was one of the guards around the maze.

"Found anything suspicious, Crane?" he growled at her.

"No. Though I'm curious why the Task hasn't been stopped yet." Natalie told him, not bothering to hide her displeasure with the organizers.

"Well, they would never stop the Tournament just for a few accidents." Moody said

"A few accidents? Moody, one of the Champions was stupefied, the other was found under the Imperius Curse. That's surely counting as more than just a few accidents."

"I may know that, Crane, but tell that to the bloody officials. Besides, you have no proof that the curses weren't cast by the other Champions."

Natalie couldn't help but scoff at her old mentor. "Oh, come off it, Mad-Eye! Are you saying that either Harry or Cedric used an Unforgivable just to win the Cup?"

"You can never be too sure." The old mentor said in a low voice.

But Natalie shook her head resolutely…"Harry would never do that. I know it."

"But how well do you know Diggory? Never underestimate your enemy, Crane, remember it. And now go guard the other side of the maze. We're doing no bloody work done by standing here and chatting." He ordered and Natalie had to admit he had a point. Without another word she headed to the other side of the maze, looking for anything suspicious.

But when a long while had passed and nothing still happened, she was even more nervous. One of them surely had to reach the Cup by now but the maze was suspiciously quiet. But it was against the rules to go inside when the Champions were still competing, except after receiving the signal of red sparks. Natalie's heart was beating furiously as she was patrolling on one side of the maze and she had to suppress the desperate urge to burst into the damn maze and save her Godson, who she had promised to protect.

But suddenly, a flash could be seen and then with a loud dull thump, something fell into the grass in front of the maze. Driven with curiosity, everyone ran to the unrecognizable heap but Dumbledore made a warning gesture to the herd of students, parents, teachers and other audience. But the closest ones could see, that the motionless heap was Harry, clutching onto an arm of the body of Cedric Diggory.

"He's back. Voldemort's back." The boy whispered when he recognized Dumbledore but no one except the headmaster could hear him since people were already screaming over each other. Not minding the Dumbledore's banning gesture from before, everyone was trying to make their way to Harry. Soon, Dumbledore had to let go of Harry, who were barely standing, as the parents of Cedric Diggory ran to the body of their son and they needed an explanation. But Natalie's main purpose was to get to Harry.

"Harry! Harry, are you hurt?" she asked, maybe a bit unnecessarily, since she saw herself that her Godson was barely standing. Even Mad-Eye was there now, helping her keep the boy steady.

"Natalie?" she heard Dumbledore say, and reluctantly, she looked away from her Godson to the Headmaster. "Natalie, I need you to secure the Triwizard Cup. Don't touch it - it's a Portkey!" The Headmaster warned her and seeing her upcoming protest, he raised his hand…"It's necessary to do it now, then you can be with Harry." he said and Natalie reluctantly nodded.

"Just go, Crane. I'll take care of him." Moody grumbled and so she squeezed Harry's shoulder and quickly went to take care of the Cup. It was still laying just a few feet away, unnoticed, but still waiting for someone's touch to transport them to an unknown place. To Voldemort.

It took a while to raise the magical barriers around the Cup, so no one could approach it. For now, she decided not to move it anywhere, as she wasn't really sure where would it be safe enough to move it. No, it was better if no one could touch. But just as she finished, her look fell onto Dumbledore and she froze. The old wizard seemed to be glowing with power and she figured that something terrible must have happened. He gave her a look and she immediately understood he wanted her to come.

"What happened, sir?" she asked when she joined Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape. They all were marching into the castle, not minding the upset crowd behind.

"Alastor took Harry away to the castle. He's the Death Eater." he said and Natalie's jaw dropped.

"What?" she yelped but Dumbledore didn't even gave her a look.

"Let's act now and not let us delay with talking." he said, still marching through the corridors to Moody's office. Natalie still couldn't believe what Dumbledore was implying. How could Moody be a Death Eater? No way, he used to be her mentor, strictly against Dark Arts. Nevertheless, she clutched her wand tighter. Finally, they were there, hearing raised voices from the office. But Dumbledore didn't wait for an invitation – he blasted the door open and without a blink, he stupefied the old Auror.

Immediately, Natalie leaped to Harry, who was sitting on the floor.

"Harry, I'm so sorry! I should have known, I'm such a dreadful Godmother to you. I can't believe I left you there with him. I'm so sorry! Did he hurt you?" she asked, frantic with worry, though when the boy shook his head, she calmed down a bit. In the meantime, Dumbledore ordered Snape to bring Veritaserum and bring the house-elf Winky to the office, while McGonagall was to take Sirius into Dumbledore's office.

"I'm taking Harry to the Hospital wing, Dumbledore." Natalie announced, already reaching for Harry's arm to take him to the infirmary but the Headmaster stopped her.

"No! No, he needs to stay here. He needs to understand. Understanding is one step to accepting it." he said and so Natalie sighed but she conjured a chair as comfortable as she could manage and let Harry sit down.

Then Natalie shook her head while looking sadly at her former mentor. "How could Moody do it? I still can't believe it."

"This is not Alastor Moody." Dumbledore said and began looking through the big chest in the corner. When he opened the last lock, there, in the deep pit, was a motionless body of Mad-Eye Moody, now horribly starved.

Natalie's eyes went wide when she saw the haggard figure of the old Auror and shot a dirty look at the Death Eater on the floor. Mumbling a curse even Sirius would have been proud of, she helped Dumbledore pull out the body of the real Moody of the pit.

After a while of waiting, the body of the unconscious Death Eater changed and suddenly, in front of them, there wasn't Natalie's former mentor but a man with straw-coloured hair. Vaguely, Natalie recognized his face which had been shown in newspaper on daily basis thirteen years ago, although time (and probably also deprival) had afflicted his face. But Natalie couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for the young man, who wanted to hurt her Godson. No, quite the contrary – she had to hold herself not to murder the unconscious wizard. So instead, she busied herself with fussing over Harry, and insisted of conjuring a glass of water for him, which he drained gratefully.

During the interrogation of the Death Eater, which went rather slowly due to Winky's wails, Natalie didn't move away from Harry's side. The boy was still leaning on her subconsciously and she could feel he was shaking with exhaustion. When the Death Eater's head fell back on the floor and he slipped back into unconsciousness, Dumbledore decided to act. He ordered Professor McGonagall to stand guard over Barty Crouch while Snape was to fetch Madame Pomfrey and then bring Cornelius Fudge. Then, with the help of Dumbledore himself, Natalie helped Harry to get up and led him through the corridors to Dumbledore's office. Just as they entered the round room, Natalie saw the tall man in there and she felt relieved at once. Despite the whole situation, it was comforting to have him there, to have him with her to take care of Harry.

"Harry! Are you alright? I knew it – I just knew something like this would happen - What happened?" he stammered over the words in his upset state and his hands were shaking as he took hold of Harry's arm which Dumbledore had let go, and helped Natalie get Harry into an armchair in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"What happened?" he asked and sat down into the chair next to Harry's while Natalie, who was still too restless to sit down, simply eased herself onto an armrest of Harry's armchair so she could be still close to him and she put her hand on his shoulder, hoping it would at least comfort him a little. In the meantime, Dumbledore explained the situation to Sirius, and knowing it already, Natalie didn't really pay any attention. Instead, she smiled sadly when she watched as Fawkes landed gently on Harry's knee and the tired boy stroked its feathers gently.

Then, for the first time since entering the office, Dumbledore spoke to Harry and the boy turned his eyes to the Headmaster reluctantly. Natalie could almost feel the tiredness flowing off him and she wasn't very thrilled when Dumbledore expressed a wish to know about the events from Harry.

"I'm sure it could wait for tomorrow, couldn't it Dumbledore?" Sirius asked before she could even open her mouth and Natalie didn't miss the edge in his voice. "Look at him, he's barely awake. Let him have a rest." Sirius caressed Harry's shoulder; the boy leaned into the touch with gratefulness. But the old wizard absolutely ignored Sirius's suggestion so Harry had to relive the terrible happenings.

All three adults listened to him intrigued, not interrupting him uselessly but none of them could hold their reactions when Harry told them about being stabbed by Pettigrew. Sirius exclaimed, Natalie gasped loudly (despite her great ability to stay composed at different odd situations) and Dumbledore shot up from his seat (very quickly for such an aged man) and then gently took Harry's arm to look at the wound. But then, Harry continued in his story and unavoidably, he got to the connection between his and Voldemort's wand and the appearance of his parents.

When Natalie heard it, she thought she might faint from all those emotions whirling in her. Mainly, there was grief caused by the reminder of her dead friends and also by the tortures that Harry had to pass; but even worse feeling was guilt. Guilt, because of the fact that Harry couldn't even rely on his guardians to protect him from getting hurt. Whatever anyone could say, it was partially her fault that all of this happened – Mad-Eye Moody used to be her mentor and friend, she was supposed to recognize it wasn't him, and then…she was supposed to watch over the Task, she was the one who should have intervened but the only thing she had done was leaving Harry with the Death Eater afterwards. _Another job well done, Crane_, she thought bitterly.

When Harry talked about his parents, Natalie could take no more. She had to press a hand to her mouth to suppress a sniffle and then she quickly wiped two tears so no one would notice. And no one did. Dumbledore was still watching Harry intently and if he noticed Natalie was crying, he didn't show any sign of it. Harry was turned his back to her so he didn't see her and besides, he was too tired to actually take notice of his surroundings. And Sirius himself wasn't coping too well. When Natalie looked at him, he had his head buried in his hands. Natalie was sure he wasn't crying, for his shoulders were still and…she just knew he wasn't because she knew him well, but she recognized he was having a hard time.

Just as Natalie wiped away those tears so her face was then clean again, Dumbledore finally allowed Harry to take a rest.

"You two will stay with him, won't you?" he asked Harry's Godparents and they both nodded mutely, without even giving each other a look. Natalie couldn't give Sirius out of fear of losing it right there. But from the corner of her eye, she saw him turn into a dog again and she helped Harry to get up and gently led him to the Hogwarts infirmary, accompanied by the Hogwart's Headmaster and a big black dog.

In the dim room of the Hospital wing, which both the Marauders used to know so well from their frequent unsuccessful pranks and accidents, Harry's friends were waiting anxiously, together with Mrs. Weasley and her first-born son Bill. They were grilling poor Madame Pomfrey with questions, but the school nurse wasn't able to give them any answers since she was waiting for further orders from the Headmaster. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a pale and exhausted-looking Harry, in a company of his Godmother, Dumbledore and a feral-looking black dog. With an exclamation, Mrs. Weasley was about to hurl herself onto the boy, closely followed by his friends but it took only one gesture from Dumbledore to stop them all from doing so. He allowed them to stay with Harry but it was strictly prohibited to ask him any questions, at least for that night. Although, it wasn't really necessary to put up this restriction, as both of Harry's Godparents would literally fight off anyone who would try to interrogate the boy that night - Natalie intending to use her temper and Sirius his canine sharp teeth.

Madame Pomfrey was still giving Sirius strange looks, although Dumbledore assured her that the dog was allowed to stay with Harry as well and he didn't neglect to mention the dog's good training (in any other situation Natalie would protest and pull out a snide remark about Sirius's behaviour, but now it really wasn't the time for her infantile jokes).

Not even a half an hour after Harry fell asleep under the effect of the Sleeping-potion, a very loud shouting could be heard from the hallway and suddenly, the door burst open again and Cornelius Fudge himself strode inside, closely followed by a furious-looking Professor McGonagall and Snape. When Snape's look fell on Natalie, his lip curled into the usual nasty sneer and she returned him the best glare she could manage. But Snape only turned his attention to the 'argument' between Fudge and McGonagall and Natalie took a glance at her Godson, just to find out that he was awake again (not that it was surprising in this ruckus) and just as curious as the others.

To say that Professor McGonagall was angry was an understatement. To tell the truth, never in her life, not even as a student, had Natalie seen the woman as livid as she was now. Something really horrible must have occurred to put her into such a state, since Natalie and her friends used to perform many stunts which made the professor furious but never before had she lost it like that.

Suddenly, the door burst open for the third time, and Dumbledore entered the room and Natalie could see he was angry as well. And when McGonagall told them what exactly the matter was, no one in the room seemed to be surprised by her outburst. Barty Crouch had got the Dementor's kiss. Even as strong person as McGonagall was visibly shaken by the sight she had just witnessed and Natalie had to suppress the thoughts of something like this happening to Sirius. But right now, there were more important things to worry about. As expected, Fudge didn't believe a word Dumbledore or McGonagall told him. And the young animagus realized that by the Minister's attitude, the Order of the Phoenix was just re-established.

But now, they still had to deal with Fudge's stubborness. He strictly refused to take in anything Dumbledore tried to tell him, not even when Snape showed him his Death mark. The blind fool even went as far as to question Harry's trustworthiness.

At that moment, Natalie felt a new spark of emotion – anger. That stupid, egoistical, arrogant prat was here calling her Godson a liar, with all the poor boy had gone through, not just a few hours ago but in his whole life. He had just faced the newly reborn Lord Voldemort, seen the ghosts of his parents and brought a body of his friend and the Minister had the nerve to put him down just because of a few articles from a ruddy reporter. She heard Sirius next to her snarl and she took a very deep breath to give the man a piece of her mind (Minister of Magic or not) when suddenly, Dumbledore gave her one short but sharp glance and she got the hint – not a word. Before, she and the Headmaster had talked about this – she was, under no circumstances, to arouse Fudge's notice. It was way too important now that she played low on the Ministry so she still could work for the Order _and_ be an Auror.

Fudge went on with his rant and it took on a new turn – Dumbledore's loyalty to the Ministry. Finally, he left with the promise of a new look on Dumbledore's teaching methods. But as soon as his scurrying steps faded away, Dumbledore turned to the others with a spark in his eyes. It was time to act.

Bill agreed to go to his father, Arthur Weasley, who was about to contact people in the Ministry; together with Natalie. When Professor McGonagall left to fetch Hagrid and Madame Maxime, and Madame Pomfrey went to take care of Winky, Dumbledore's blue eyes rested directly on the black dog.

"And now, it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius if you could resume your usual form." He said. Hearing that, Natalie bit her lip hesitantly. She had relented only reluctantly that Sirius could even go to Hogwarts this evening; standing in his 'usual form' in the middle of the Hogwarts infirmary, right in front of Snape, didn't strike her as the best idea. However, the dog gave Dumbledore only a quick look, before Sirius changed back with ease of the long-time practice. For the first time that evening, he looked at Natalie, and she locked her eyes with his. They didn't need words to understand each other; just with their looks, they could give each other the much needed comfort in a split second. But their sort of a trance was immediately interrupted by very expected reactions of others and they were forced to tear their gazes away.

Mrs. Weasley immediately shrieked and leaped away as if there was a serious danger of catching a severe infection, and blatantly pointed her finger at Sirius, although Natalie would have bet that this motherly person had always taught her children not to do just that.

On the other hand, Snape didn't shriek, nor jump, nor did he point his finger at his long-hated enemy. He merely did what he could do best – he curled his upper lip in a very nasty sneer and if his face had really mirrored his feelings, he must have felt as if his worst nightmare had come true. Needles to say, that Sirius was not behind with his glares; to say that he was looking at Snape with dislike was an understatement, and neither Natalie could hold herself from narrowing her eyes at the potions Master.

"Him! What is he doing here?" Snape spat. "I should have known that where is Crane, there would also be Black!" he snarled and turned his glare to Natalie, as if she was the one who had smuggled Sirius into the castle. Harry was watching this commotion with awe, although he wasn't as surprised to find out that his Professor hated also someone else as much as he hated Harry, but until now, he hadn't actually _met_ anyone who would get the same looks from Snape as himself. Immediately, he felt even closer to his Guardians.

"They are here at my invitation, Severus, as are you. I trust you all. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other." Dumbledore said and Natalie turned her look to him, and Harry noticed that she looked almost horrified by this request. But he thought that Natalie _might_ comply, although only very, very reluctantly, but when he looked at Sirius and Snape, he wondered how Dumbledore wanted them to do it, when it was obvious that they loathed each other. The Hogwarts Headmaster had probably realized it as well, since he raised his eyebrows in an impatient gesture.

"I will settle, in the short term for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand

united, there is no hope for any of us." Dumbledore said and Sirius suppressed an urge to roll his eyes and cursed himself for not being a better actor, for now he wouldn't have had to touch his slimy enemy. Even Natalie let out a sigh but nevertheless, she got up and as the first, she reached her hand to Snape, although hesitantly, as if she was afraid he might bite her hand off. Snape eyed her hand with another sneer but still, he shook her hand quickly and just as quickly, he let go. Sirius's handshake with the Potion Master was even shorter and from her spot next to Sirius, Natalie could see that just very very discreetly, Sirius wiped his hand into his robes, very careful that Dumbledore wouldn't see. But the Headmaster looked satisfied for now.

"Now I have work for each of you. Sirius, Natalie, I need you to set off at once. Natalie, you go and contact Kingsley Shacklebolt, inform him about the situation. He's on our side; he will know who of the Aurors will join us. Then contact Arthur Weasley and together with him, get as much people from the Ministry willing to listen as you can. But be very careful, if Fudge finds out, your cover will be blown." He said and Natalie nodded mutely. "Sirius, You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there." Dumbledore instructed them and both the Marauders were about to get up when Harry protested slightly.

"But-" he quipped and both Sirius and Natalie turned their heads to him, immediately feeling guilty.

"You'll see us very soon, Harry, that's a promise. But now, we must do what we can. You understand, don't you?" Sirius said gently.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." Harry said but seeing him so crestfallen, Natalie sighed.

"Everything will be alright. I'll keep in touch as much as I can, ok?" she said and leaned down so she could give him a quick hug, which now Harry even anticipated and accepted gratefully. Sirius didn't hug him, but he squeezed his hand briefly before he nodded at Natalie, who immediately got up at this gesture and followed him. To a surprise of everyone in the room, they didn't head for the door. Instead, Natalie followed him to the window. Only Harry, Ron and Hermione knew what it was about so they weren't surprised when Sirius opened the window.

Before Natalie turned into her Animagus form, she looked up at Sirius and once again, their looks locked in a quiet communication.

"Be careful." Sirius murmured and lightly caressed her cheek.

"You, too. I'll see you at Moony's. I love you." she said and then they kissed briefly, completely obvious to everyone's gazes.

Before they pulled away, Sirius planted a last kiss onto her forehead. "Love you, too." Said quietly. Then, despite the gloomy situation, Sirius gave her a mischievous wink and stepped aside from the window. In a second, Natalie turned into a crane and flew out of the window, not hearing the gasp of Mrs. Weasley. Without another delay, Sirius closed the window before he changed back into a dog and after opening the door with his paw, he was gone.


	20. It's Not Easy

**Hello! I bet you thought I've vanished from the face of the Earth, or something, right? Well, let me tell you, with the start of the term, it almost feels like this very thing. I don't know, the professors must have gone crazy with the amount of work they are constantly piling on us. Plus, I've been suffering from a writer's block again. Therefore, this chapter is awfully short and not the best I've wrote. But I hope you'll enjoy it anyways. Btw.: Thank all of my reviewers, you guys keep me going.**

**Disclaimer: The characters and the plot belong to J.K Rowling. Also, some of the lines are borrowed from the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I only own the OC.**

"-WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE?

WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS? - BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?" To say that Harry Potter was angry was an understatement. Everyone who would hear his booming voice screaming at his two best friends could see that the boy was beyond angry. He was pissed off.

The month which he had spent caged, stuck at Dursley's, really took its toll on Harry. Even before, the fifteen-year-old boy had been having hard times after witnessing Voldemort's comeback, but right now it felt almost like nothing comparing that to being cut off from the magical world for a whole month, not knowing what was happening and being constantly on the edge. But ironically, it had got even worse after receiving those few letters from his friends, who kept telling him everything but important news! Over that month, with nothing else to do than listen to the muggle news and stealing newspapers from bins, bitterness gathered up in him at everyone who kept telling him to stay low. At least Sirius shortly expressed his pity for him being totally cut off (but still he wouldn't forget to remind him to stay out of trouble), and in her few notes, Natalie kept telling him to hold on, that everything would be fine. But how could it be fine when he had been stuck up at Dursley's while Voldemort began the war again? Truly, even those messages from his Godparents were like oil on the fire. And finally, those two idle messages from Mr. Weasley and Sirius after the Dementor's attack were the last straw. Harry's patience finally snapped.

Therefore, it was no wonder that Harry took it up on the first people that crossed his way (and were close enough to him to actually deserve it), who happened to be Ron and Hermione. When Harry arrived to the strange dark house, which was full of objects which would rather fit into the Slytherin's common room, and he still was no closer to answers from his friends, he lost it. It actually felt very good to spill all of his frustration in an outburst of anger. In his rant, as he screamed at his two best friends, he didn't even realize what was he saying, the words just spilled out. And as he screamed, his friends seemed almost stunned, although deep down they had been anticipating and dreading something like that from him…

"I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL

HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER!" he yelled then, his bitterness getting the better of him. Truthfully, this was the very thing that was ailing him most – that his friends had been spending the summer together, amidst of all action.

"What's this place anyway?" he asked when he calmed down a bit, though he was still breathing hardly from his shouting. Finally, his friends began telling him at least some of the facts he wanted to know, although he had to literally pull those answers of them. He was still rather bitter, but at least after some while, he had some view on the situation, at least the same as his friends.

"So, what have you two been doing, if you're not allowed in meetings? You said you'd been busy." He said, beginning to feel slightly awkward for the outburst but still certain that they had deserved it.

"We have." Hermione rushed to explain. "We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff has been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms and I think we're doing the drawing room tomo-" she stopped abruptly as a quick rapping on the door interrupted them, and then the door opened to reveal another familiar person to Harry. Seeing her, he smiled, although his smile still didn't really reach his eyes.

"I was trying to be resting, as I am supposed to, but someone's shouting kept me from sleep." His Godmother joked. "How are you doing, Harry?" she asked, although it was rather a rhetorical question.

Harry was about to answer but then he took in her appearance and he furrowed his eyebrows. There, his Godmother was standing, but by no means did she look like the brisk and strong person Harry had met in his last year. First of all, he noticed she was wearing a blue fluffy dressing gown, tightly wrapped around herself, except her right arm, which she had in a sling. Harry saw that she was leaning against the doorframe and she was breathing heavily, as if she had run all the way up here.

Seeing her standing there, Hermione looked uncertain. "Natalie, you shouldn't walk by yourself. You aren't supposed to leave your bed at all for-" she said hesitantly but Natalie cut her off.

"So I've heard, Hermione. But I'll decide myself what I'm supposed to. And actually, I heard you telling Harry about the Order's activity. Do _you_ know what you are supposed to and what not?" Natalie quirked her eyebrow but it was hard to say if she was really scolding Hermione or if it was her usual sarcasm. But she didn't wait for an answer as she limped further into the room, now strongly resembling Mad-Eye Moody. Harry immediately strode across the room and Ron leaped up from his spot on the bed to help her.

"What happened?" Harry asked with concern, while they were helping her to the bed. Suddenly, he forgot about the bitterness with his friends and felt only worry about his Godmother.

"Just a few scratches." she tried to wave it off but as she did, she winced and Harry didn't miss it. When she saw his unbelieving look, she sighed. "I just had a small…escapade while I was on a mission for the Order." She admitted.

"What kind of mission?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid I'll have to tell you later. Now, are you ok?" she asked with concern.

"I'm fine." Harry assured her, not feeling like complaining while his Godmother was all battered.

"Alright. You know, as soon as we heard about the Dementors, I was about to set off and retrieve you but this scratches kinda got into my way." she made an annoyed face.

"I still would like to know what happened to you." Harry said, again annoyed by the lack of information. And he was even angrier with his friends now, that no one had bothered to inform him that his Godmother had almost died. Natalie sighed again before responding.

"It was a curse, Harry." she said then.

"What kind of curse? And from whom?" he asked curiously.

"I can't tell you from whom. I promise you'll find out more but we should wait with the talking for the others. You've held on for more than a month being without any information. I know how hard it must have been and I'm proud of you that you made it but a few more minutes shouldn't be such a big deal, should it?" she said and Harry sighed.

"I guess." he shrugged, although he still defiantly stared into the floor. "Why didn't you at least tell me you were hurt? Why has no one bothered to tell me that my Godmother almost died?" he asked then, exasperated. He also noticed that Ron and Hermione looked away awkwardly, as if he was shouting at them again.

"For one, it was an order from Dumbledore." Natalie said. "You have no idea how dangerous would it be, to be telling you important information about any member of the Order via owl post. And then...I _did not_ almost die. It takes more than a few scratches to finish me off. And don't be angry with Ron and Hermione, they would have told you had they been able to, but you must understand that there are worse things than being uninformed for a few weeks." she said pointedly and Harry bit his lip. "Alright, I'd better go back to my room to get changed before dinner. Merlin knows that it takes me a bit longer now." she said and got up from the bed, standing unsteadily.

"We could bring you some dinner into your room." Hermione offered but Natalie gave her small smile.

"No, thank you, Hermione, I'll come down for the dinner." she said and hobbled to the door and left.

After his Godmother left the room, an awkward quiet settled in the room.

"We really wanted to tell you about her, mate, really, but she didn't let us herself. Said you would worry too much." Ron said hesitantly and Hermione nodded.

"D´you know what happened?" Harry asked curiously, the bitterness for once left his voice and only curiosity left.

"It was pretty bad." Hermione spoke up. "We don't know much - Ron's mum immediately shooed us into our rooms. We only know that she was on a mission and she was delayed a bit but no one was too concerned. But then, Professor Lupin brought her, all bloody…" she trailed off.

"Yea, mate, I've never seen something like that. They didn't take her to St. Mungo's, as it would be too dangerous. Instead, they called Madame Pomfrey and she fixed her up again in no time, really-" Ron took over and tried to comfort his friend's worries but then he was cut off by two loud pops as the Weasley twins apparated into the room….

After some time, Mrs. Weasley came to tell them that the meeting was over and they could go downstairs for dinner. When they all shuffled outside of the room, they saw that the Order member's were still in the hall and after Fred and George introduced him to their newest invention – Extendable ears – they tried to catch on some information, but unfortunately, everyone left rather quickly and they didn't manage to find out anything. Therefore, Harry followed Ron and Hermione downstairs, all the time looking around in astonishment at the amount of dark artefacts he saw. He couldn't help but wonder. The house looked as if it was inhabited by dark wizards and yet, it was the headquarters of the Order…It was dim and oddly quiet, maybe also because everyone in the hall was whispering. And after descending into the hall, another surprise waited for him…

**Well, that's it for now. I know, it's really short. But I promise to try and update soon enough. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	21. Too Rude

**Hi! I know - it's been too long. But school, friends, family, you know the drill – everything gets into your way. Besides, I was suffering from another major writer's block and it took some effort to get rid of it. As a way of compensation, there's a longish chapter this time. Enjoy!**

_'Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, be gone from__ this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers-' _the painting of an old witch bellowed. Just a moment before, there had been a very sudden bang when Tonks had tripped over an umbrella stand, which was in fact a heavy troll leg. At that, the velvet curtains on the wall had flown open to uncover a painting of an old woman, who was screaming bloody murder.

Lupin and Mrs. Weasley were trying in vain to close the curtains while Tonks fought to lift the heavy troll leg back up and kept apologizing, although her words were dieing away in the loud shrieking.

"There's never a dull moment in this house." Harry heard Natalie's voice come loudly from a floor above, as she was slowly descending the stairs, now dressed in dark robes, her right arm still in a sling. "Hi Tonks." she greeted the pink-haired witch, who finally managed to lift the troll leg.

"Wotcher, Natalie." Tonks said, her cheeks still flushed with embarrassment.

"_Blood-traitors! Filth! Mudbloods! What a hideous act of impudence to set a foot into this house-" _the woman screamed but then Harry was distracted when another person came running into the dark hall.

"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" Sirius Black roared and grabbed the curtain, which Mrs. Weasley let go off in order to stun other portraits. But as soon as the woman on the painting saw him, she was screeching even louder a trail of curses directly against Sirius.

"I said – shut - UP!" he yelled and finally, with Lupin's help, they managed to close the curtains again, and the portrait fell quiet.

Only then, Sirius finally turned his attention to Harry.

"Hello, Harry, I see you've met my mother." He said darkly and Harry's mouth fell open.

"Your-"

"My dear old mum, yeah." Sirius said sarcastically and moved a bit up the stairs to help Natalie down, although she stubbornly refused anyone's help "We've been trying to get rid of her for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas." he said while he took hold of Natalie's upper arm and helped her to descend the stairs, not minding her futile tries to disentangle from his grasp and walk by herself.

"But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asked, as he followed his Godparents through the door, which led to a descending stairs to the kitchen.

"Hasn't anyone told you? This used to be my parents' house. And since I'm the last Black left, it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for Headquarters – which is about the only useful thing I've been able to do." He said grimly, which gained him a look from Natalie.

"Now, Sirius, will you stop that already?" she scolded and Harry recognized that it wasn't the first time they had this conversation.

Natalie limped into the kitchen, still with Sirius' arms around her waist and upper arm, and Harry in tow and everyone in the kitchen looked up at the newcomers, with the exception of Mundungus Fletcher, who was in a deep slumber.

While Mr. Weasley and Bill were saying their greetings to Harry while cleaning the last parchments from the Order meeting, Natalie finally detached herself from Sirius' arms and hobbled to a seat at the table. Sirius took the seat next to her and put his arm on the armrest of her chair while offering Harry a seat. The boy sat down next to Sirius and curiously looked around. While Sirius introduced Harry to the old Dung, who was needless to say, a little out of it after his slumber, Natalie looked curiously around as well. It was the first time after her accident since she was down here. She had to admit she missed the company.

Suddenly, a harsh smell hit her nostrils when Mundungus lit up his pipe and Natalie scrunched up her face and sneezed. She definitely didn't miss this. Neither did Mrs. Weasley, for she immediately scolded poor Mundungus, who quickly slurred an apology and put his pipe away. Everyone then left the table to help Mrs. Weasley with the dinner, leaving just Natalie, Sirius, Harry and Mundungus at the table and seeing that Mrs. Weasley was out of earshot, Mundungus snatched Harry's attention to apologize for leaving him unguarded on that fateful night. But Natalie didn't listen. Instead, she looked at Sirius, who immediately felt her stare and turned his eyes at her questioningly.

"You know, if you keep such a sour look, people will mistake you for Kreacher." Natalie said teasingly and Sirius made a grimace - something between a grin and disgusted face, and Natalie beamed triumphantly. "See? Now only bigger ears and a loincloth and you could be twins when you pull such a face. Come on, lighten up. Harry arrived safely and I'm down here, in the kitchen! We're bound to celebrate." She said cheerfully. At that, Sirius smirked a bit after all, and leaned closer to her, so no one would hear his next comment.

"Y'know, I would have much rather celebrated if you had been upstairs in my room with me." he whispered and Natalie grinned.

"Really now? But we still have some work in here, remember?" she said pointedly and Sirius nodded.

"Of course I do. On the other thought, it could wait until tomorrow." he said.

"What are you talking about?" Harry inquired curiously and the two adults jumped slightly but seeing it was only their Godson, they relaxed again.

"Oh, sorry, Harry, I guess we were rather keeping to ourselves." Natalie said apologetically.

"Yeah. And for your question, you will have to wait. It's going to be a surprise." Sirius said and seeing the mischievous twinkle in their eyes, Harry could tell they were up to something, so he leaned closer to them.

"Are you two plotting something?" he asked the two famous pranksters.

"We can't tell you with so many nosy and dangerous people in here." Sirius said plainly and Harry couldn't help but shake his head.

It was strange. Over the summer, both Sirius and Natalie had changed a lot. They both (but mainly Sirius) were much grimmer than before. Sirius was clearly very disgruntled, giving everyone sour looks and sarcastic responses. The only exception was Natalie and Harry himself. Sirius was obviously happy to have Harry there, but Harry noticed that it couldn't compare to the looks he was giving to Natalie. She was the only one who could make him brighten up a bit.

Suddenly, something white and grey jumped onto Natalie's lap and Harry vaguely recognized Natalie's old cat he had seen in Hogsmead. That should mean that her Crup was somewhere around as well. Another furball, this time ginger, settled on Sirius' lap, and this time Harry didn't have any problem to determine whose cat was this. It was Hermione's Crookshanks.

"Had a good summer so far?" Sirius asked while petting the old cat in his lap.

"No, it's been lousy." Harry said grimly and Sirius snorted.

"Don't know what you're complaining about." He said and in the corner of his eye, Harry saw Natalie roll her eyes.

"What?" Harry asked and thought that perhaps Sirius had lost his mind after all.

"Personally, I'd have welcomed a deadly struggle for my soul. At least some excitement to break the monotony nicely. You think you've had it bad, at least you've been able to get out and about, stretch your legs, get into a few fights…I've been stuck inside for a month." Sirius said wistfully.

This time, Natalie couldn't help it but butt in. She put her hand on Sirius arm and gave him a mischievous smile.

"If that's all you're worried, Sirius, then you can relax – I know you and I know you won't stop babying me – you'll get into more than just a few fights with me. And trust me, those will be deadly struggles to save your arse." she said threateningly and Sirius gave her a glare, (although Harry knew that this look couldn't be compared to his _real_ glares, which made people shudder with fear).

"Well, sorry that I care." he bit back.

"You're not."

"Is it that bad that I want to take care of my injured girlfriend?"

"No, of course not. If said girlfriend agrees."

"Why are you stuck in here?" Harry interrupted their banter.

"Because the Ministry's still after me, and Voldemort knows about me and Natalie being Animagi so our big disguises are useless. There's not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix… or so Dumbledore feels." Sirius said bitterly.

"You've already done enough." Natalie said, this time her tone was soft and comforting.

"Oh, yeah. Giving the Order this ruin, that's some work." Sirius said, still grim.

"Hey, if the Ministry gets you, you won't be able to do anything at all for the Order. You're still a valuable member of the Order and I know it that there will be time for you to prove it."

"Yeah, and at least you've known what's been going on." Harry joined her but at that, Sirius scoffed.

"Oh yeah," said Sirius sarcastically. "Listening to Snape's reports, having to take his hints about being out there risking his life while I'm here, sitting on my arse… asking me how the cleaning's going…"

"What cleaning?" Harry asked

"Cleaning of this place. It's been uninhabited for years and it's quite a mess. My own bedroom gave me a nice sneezing fit. Besides, I think that wacky house-elf makes more mess than cleaning up. Oh, and just for the record, Sirius; you've been stuck in this house for a month but I was stuck in one _room_, particularly in one bed, for two weeks." Natalie said and this time it was Sirius' turn to roll his eyes.

"Here she goes again." he said sarcastically and Natalie smacked his upper-arm. Harry looked at them with a slight concern, not knowing what he should think about their behaviour.

"Did you two uhm….have a row?" he asked uncertainly and both his Godparents turned their heads to him.

"A row? Merlin, no. We're just bantering." Natalie explained.

"Yeah. It's fun to tease her. She always gets awfully worked up about it." Sirius said with a teasing grin.

"Yes. Besides, it's just what we are like in public. Otherwise, Sirius is like a lovesick puppy." Natalie said with a smirk and hearing that, Sirius' smile froze. Harry had to bite his lip to keep a straight face. It was odd to hear someone call his roughish Godfather a lovesick puppy.

When Harry thought about that, it was strange to watch them together. Harry was never used to open display of emotions around him. The only emotion the Dursleys ever showed around him was annoyance and anger. He couldn't remember seeing them be all emotional to each other. And at school, Harry could see many students dating, holding hands or snogging in dark corners, but never was it anyone so close to him. When Harry had visited Sirius and Natalie in Hogsmead last year, they had a lot to talk about and except that small kiss they'd exchanged when he had been lying in Hospital Wing, no one would have guessed they were lovers. As he was watching them, he felt exceedingly happy for them, he knew that his Godfather deserved someone like Natalie after those long years of suffering in Azkaban. But he had to admit that he was also a bit embarrassed.

"Just right now you gave my reputation a deathly blow." he said, mock-hurt and Natalie snorted.

"Your reputation was dead since we found you reading that trashy novel that Tonks had brought." Natalie said sarcastically and Sirius' pale cheeks actually got a pink tinge.

"You swore you wouldn't tell!" he said accusingly.

"Oops." Natalie gave him an innocent smile and Sirius huffed.

Sirius was about to say some witty answer but he was cut off by Mrs. Weasley's bellowing. All three of them looked up to see what the ruckus was about but the first thing they saw was a set of plates, a heavy pot of hot stew, a pitcher of butterbeer and cutlery flying their direction. Of course, Fred and George were the culprits. Natalie had to duck so she wouldn't be hit by the big pot and had Sirius not moved his hand off the table, it would have surely been pierced by a large knife, which fell down and stabbed ominously into the table. For a while, Sirius, Natalie and Harry stared in shock at the knife before Sirius started laughing barkingly, Harry and Natalie joining him after a second.

When she calmed down a bit, Natalie looked at Tonks, who was sitting right across from her and when she saw the flushed look the young witch was wearing, she shot her an amused smile. Even in her laughing fit, Natalie hadn't failed to notice that in Tonks' attempt to get out of the way of the pitcher, her chair had toppled over and the young witch had fallen right under feet of one Remus Lupin. Poor Tonks'd immediately blushed furiously and her blush only deepened when Remus'd helped her on her feet again. Even now, when she was sitting (relatively) safely again, Tonks had to force herself to act nonchalantly, which, however, couldn't escape the attention of the older Auror. When Tonks looked up and her black eyes met Natalie's blue, Natalie gave her a knowing look and despite her distress, Tonks grinned sheepishly. Finally, they all were seated around the large table and eating Mrs. Weasley's wonderful dinner.

"Oh, Sirius, I forgot to tell you: there's something in that desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a Boggart, but I thought we should ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out."

"Whatever you like." Sirius said without looking up from his plate.

"The curtains in there are full of Doxys, too, I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow." Mrs. Weasley said and only Natalie noticed Sirius roll his eyes.

"I'll look forward to it." Sirius said sarcastically and Natalie smiled a bit at his suffering tone. She decided to help him out.

"I think I'll help you with the cleaning tomorrow, Molly. I'm sick of lying in bed all the time." She said but Mrs. Weasley frowned.

"Natalie, I don't really think it's-"

"I'm well enough." Natalie interrupted her. "I think I can manage a bit of cleaning." she said firmly and Mrs. Weasley shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, if you think so, we will be glad if you help us."

"Besides, when I went down here I noticed the floor in the hall is quite dirty, you know, with all the Order members walking there all the time. I think that as soon as we end up with the drawing room, we should do something about it. Polish it, maybe…" Natalie suggested and though Harry's mind was slowly slipping somewhere else, he didn't miss that hearing that, Sirius smirked into his plate.

"Well, you're right, of course. I just don't know if it's such a good idea that everyone from the Order will walk over a freshly polished floor" Mrs. Weasley said and Natalie shrugged.

"We will come up with some solution to that." She said nonchalantly, ending the conversation. Harry, who had been sure that Sirius' smirk had been caused by something not related to the discussion, was now surprised when Sirius looked up from his plate and gave Natalie a smile and a wink, which she returned. Harry knew that no one else noticed this but he was sure that Natalie was up to something more than just polishing the floors and Sirius was at least informed.

But no one mentioned the cleaning anymore that evening. Harry's attention moved to Mundungus, who was entertaining Fred, George and Ron with one of his story about his business, which was abruptly cut off by angry Mrs. Weasley. Clearly, Mrs. Weasley wasn't very fond of Dung. But for some reason, she shot a very angry look at Sirius. Natalie, who caught it as well, turned to Padfoot.

"What did you do this time?" she asked quietly and Sirius scratched the back of his neck sheepishly before answering.

"Well, it _might_ have been me who invited Dung to stay over dinner." he said in the same quiet voice.

"How insolent!" Natalie said ironically. "How many times do I have to tell you not to invite your friends for a dinner!" She teased him.

"What is it about?" Harry asked them quietly.

"Molly doesn't approve of Mundungus." Sirius explained.

"How come he's in the Order?" Harry asked.

"He's useful. Knows all the crooks. Well, he would, seeing as he's one himself. But he's also very loyal to Dumbledore. It pays to have someone like Dung around, he hears things we don't. But Molly thinks inviting him to stay for dinner is going too far. She hasn't forgiven him for slipping off duty when he was supposed to be watching out for you."

"Yeah, neither would have I, but when it comes to the Dementors, Mundungus wouldn't have been much of a help to you anyways." Natalie whispered.

Finally, the dinner was finished, and Harry, who had been constantly pestered by Mrs. Weasley and also by Natalie to eat some more, was fuller than ever before. The atmosphere around the table was now very relaxed and tired. Remus helped himself to a third goblet of wine, which was rather over his usual limit; Tonks was still sitting at the table, tiredly resting her head on her hand, not even noticing she was dipping her elbow into a puddle of stew which had been spilled on the table and Natalie and Sirius were now leaning to each other, whispering quietly so not even Harry could hear what they were talking about.

"Nearly time for bed, I think." Mrs. Weasley yawned but at that, both Natalie and Sirius looked up abruptly.

"Not yet, Molly." Sirius said and looked at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be asking questions about Voldemort." He said and everyone around immediately tensed.

"I did! I asked Ron and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so-"

"And they're quite right. You're too young." Mrs. Weasley interrupted him.

"Since when does someone have to be in the Order to ask questions? Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen-„ Sirius stood up for Harry but even he was interrupted, this time by the twins, who were loudly complaining about not being allowed to be informed themselves.

"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing, that's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand-" Sirius reasoned calmly but Mrs. Weasley cut him off.

"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" she said, looking at him scathingly. Hearing that, Natalie took a sharp intake of breath as she was about to say something but she didn't manage for Mrs. Weasley continued. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?" she asked and Natalie saw Sirius was fighting with himself to answer calmly and although she was feeling an anger rise in her chest, she put her hand on his upper-arm, to soothe him.

"Which bit?" He asked politely.

"The bit about not telling Harry more than he _needs to know._" Mrs. Weasley said.

"I don't mean to tell him more than he _needs to know_, Molly. But since he was the one seeing Voldemort come back he has more right than most to –"

"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" said Mrs Weasley "He's only fifteen and-"

"And he's come through more than some members. Voldemort almost killed him four times already. Harry has a right to know what he's up to." Natalie butted in. Until now, she had been only listening to the whole exchange, but with every word, her frown was increasing.

"No one's denying what he's done! But he's still-" Mrs. Weasley said loudly, her sharp look now pointing to Natalie, who was, however, returning it with the same force.

"He's not a child!" Sirius interrupted her.

"He's not an adult either!" Molly said, obviously fuming. "You two should realize that he's not James!" she said.

"Excuse me?" Natalie said sharply, her hands now shaking just as Mrs. Weasley's were.

"We're perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly." Sirius said, his tone cold, but surprisingly, he seemed to be controlling himself much better than Natalie was at that moment.

"I'm not so sure you are! Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as if you though you've got your best friend back!"

"What's wrong with that?" Harry said, bewildered by the whole exchange. Personally, he agreed with Sirius and Natalie wholeheartedly – he was not a child, he didn't want others to baby him. And also, he was quite shocked by the tone Mrs. Weasley was speaking to Sirius and Natalie.

"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him! You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!" she said sharply, her scathing look still piercing both Sirius and Natalie.

"Meaning we're not responsible Godparents?" Sirius barked.

"Meaning you have been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and –"

"We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!" Sirius cut her off loudly. At that, Mrs. Weasley turned to her husband for a back up, but not even here did she get desired help. And when even Remus cut in, she finally gave up.

"Well… I see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has Harry's best interests at heart-"

"You're talking as if we didn't. You should realize Harry is not your son, Molly." Natalie interrupted her, but now she looked more sadly than angry, as if she didn't mean to turn to such a remark.

"He's as good as. Who else has he got?" Mrs. Weasley said fiercely and at that, Natalie's eyes burned with renewed anger.

"He's got us!" Sirius spoke up loudly and Mrs. Weasley's nasty look now turned to him.

"Yes, the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you two to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban and Natalie was Merlin-knows-where, hasn't it?" she said and Sirius started to rise from his chair, however, he wasn't quicker than Natalie, who, despite her injuries and the fact that it took her several minutes only to get down to the kitchen, now shot up from her seat like a flash.

"That's quite enough, Molly!" she shouted. "First of all, I will not allow you to speak down to us like this. You act as if we have chosen to leave Harry and you're the only one who cares for him. But you have no right!" Natalie said fiercely, pointing her finger into Mrs. Weasley's face. "This matter is between me, Harry and Sirius and you clearly have no idea so stay out of it! And just for the record, do you have some rules which of Dumbledore's orders are to be kept and which not? Because it was HIM who placed Harry into the care of his relatives!" Natalie said and for a while, it seemed that Mrs. Weasley won't have any answer at that and truthfully, Harry wouldn't have been surprised. Himself, he was astonished, staring at his Godmother. He had never seen her to lose control like that. Not even when Malfoy had been an arrogant prat to her, she had always been coldly calm but now, she was red with anger and her loud voice was shaking.

"Natalie!" Remus give his friend an intent look but she just shot him a look saying to stay out of it.

"Such a hypocritical excuse, Natalie! Interesting that now you're all for breaking those orders you've once chose to follow so blindly to leave Harry-"

"But Mrs. Weasley, I don't-" Harry tried to help out his Godmother but Mrs. Weasley didn't let herself to be interrupted. She didn't even give him a look, actually, she looked as if she didn't even hear him.

"If you care about Harry as you say, Natalie, you should be the one to protect him from all those horrid things as much as you can! Just like I am-" Mrs. Weasley said but Natalie interrupted her.

"You've got seven children to protect, Molly, so why are you trying to steal Harry from us?" Natalie yelled and after that, the room stayed in stunned silence. Everyone watched Natalie and Mrs. Weasley tensely, and waited for one of the women to give up and not even Sirius dared to speak up. But both Mrs. Weasley and Natalie were staring at each other, both intending to stand their ground.

Finally, after long tense silence, Remus spoke up quietly.

"I think that Natalie is right, Molly – you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry." he said carefully. "and Nat, you sit down." he said firmly and Natalie finally let out a breath and slowly, and obviously very reluctantly, she eased herself back into her seat, where she gratefully accepted much needed comfort from Sirius, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I think Harry should be allowed to decide. He's old enough to decide for himself." Remus continued.

"I want to know what's been going on." Harry said, not daring to look at Mrs. Weasley. He only hesitantly glanced at his Godparents and wasn't surprised to see a proud look in their eyes.

After this statement, there was a heated debate who of the Weasley's children would stay. At the end, the whole fight of Mrs. Weasley with her children finished with most of her children staying in the kitchen and only Ginny was ordered to bed, which didn't go without a loud shouting from the fierce girl. When everything was quiet again, and Remus returned into the kitchen after calming the painting of Mrs. Black (which Ginny had awoken by her shouting), Sirius finally turned back to Harry.

"OK, Harry… what do you want to know?" He asked.

Harry asked as many questions as he could but he was not sure he was satisfied with the answers. He knew that the Order of the Phoenix was a secret organization and they had to act very carefully, but he would have thought of some bigger offensive than what they were doing. But suddenly, just when Sirius was about to let slip something obviously important about a secret weapon (which would now be nagging Harry's mind unceasingly), Mrs. Weasley intervened and interrupted his Godfather and ordered all of them to bed.

"You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and he might just join the Order straightaway." She said.

"Why not? I'll join, I want to join. I want to fight." Harry said hopefully and this time he was sure he saw a proud look in both Sirius' and Natalie's eyes; however, he was not allowed, and this time it was Remus Lupin who did all the banning.

"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards." He said. "Wizards who have left school." he added. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you… I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough." Remus said. At that, Sirius shrugged but Harry, who was reminded of something else by Remus' words, spoke up quickly.

"There's one more thing I would like to know." He said and turned to Natalie. Surprisingly enough, his Godmother, although she had fought adamantly for Harry being informed, had been keeping quiet the whole time and let only others speak; she only mildly snorted at Sirius' remark about leaflets. "You promised to tell me what happened to you." he said carefully.

The whole room went quiet immediately once again. All of the children were watching Natalie curiously and this time, Mrs. Weasley didn't even try to intervene. Sirius seemed to tense and tightened his hold on Natalie's hand, while Remus was watching her sadly. Natalie herself didn't look up for a while, as if she was unaware of the looks she was getting. She was biting her lip and her eyes bore into the desk of the table. Finally, she looked up at Harry and gave him an uneasy smile.

"I guess I would be a hypocrite if I sent you to bed without answer. Well, Harry, one of the jobs that some of the members of the Order do is keeping tracks of known Death Eaters, and that night I was doing just that. But I messed up-"

"You _didn't_ mess up!" Sirius jumped in forcefully, signalizing that this wasn't the first time they were having this conversation. Natalie snorted mirthlessly.

"No? How would you call getting yourself almost killed because you let your guard down? That's the first lesson Mad-Eye Moody was repeating all the time – constant vigilance." She said and then grinned sarcastically. "You know," she turned to Harry again. "Mad-Eye will have my head as soon as he sees me."

But Harry didn't grin back. "Who were you tracking." he asked curiously and at that, her face darkened again and Harry could swear he heard a growl from Sirius.

"Lucius Malfoy." she answered and Harry, too, could feel anger bubbling in his stomach.

"What? Lucius Malfoy did this to you?" He exclaimed and jumped up from his seat, reminding very much of Sirius by this gesture. Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all jerked by his sudden move but they all also kept their eyes on Natalie.

"Settle down, Harry." Natalie said, obviously back in her usual calm semblance, all traces of her previous fight with Mrs. Weasley gone. Harry sat down but he was still frowning. "Look," Natalie said. "I told you once that I have unfinished business with Lucius Malfoy. I asked for this particular job. The only problem was that I was being stupid and reckless." she said and shot Sirius a very short look when she saw he was about to contradict again and this short glance was enough to quiet him.

"Alright, but…doesn't that mean that now you can prove him guilty when he attacked you?" Harry asked with a slight hope but Natalie grinned mirthlessly.

"Malfoy is smarter than that, Harry. I couldn't see his face – he still had his Death Eater mask on. I can't prove anything." she said.

"Besides," Lupin spoke up. "How would Natalie explain to the Ministry that she was keeping track of Lucius Malfoy for the Order? Malfoy is one of the most influential people in the Ministry, Harry, you surely know that. And whoever just mentions Voldemort or Death Eaters in front of Fudge can pack up and leave. If Natalie accused Malfoy too eagerly, she could lose her job at the Ministry or even get shipped straight into Azkaban." He said. Hearing Remus' words, Sirius squeezed Natalie's shoulder so tightly that she flinched. Sirius noticed that immediately and eased his grip, pulling her even closer to him instead.

"So….what exactly happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, I was tracking two Death Eaters, one of which was Malfoy. We told you that Voldemort now knows about my and Sirius' Animagi forms, and we actually know that fact for sure, since I followed Malfoy in my animagus form. But as I said, I was reckless, I felt too safe as the crane, and suddenly I was hit by a curse. I was able to change back and for a while, we were duelling but I was already weakened by the curse and I guess I wasn't quick enough so I couldn't dodge another spell. You know Sectusempra?" she asked Harry nodded hesitantly. "Right, so I only managed to apparate away without getting splinched and the last thing I know is that I sent a Patronus to call help." She said.

"Yeah." Remus said as darkly as Harry had never heard him before. "I found her and I brought her here. We called Madame Pomfrey for help and that's quite it." he finished. Again, tense quiet settled in the dim kitchen. Both Natalie and Sirius were looking grim, no one asked other questions and Harry himself, although he surely would have other questions to ask, didn't want to press Natalie more.

"Well, now I think you really told Harry everything you could." Mrs. Weasley said, still a bit crossly. "I want you in beds right away." she ordered and all the Weasley kids as well as Hermione and Harry slowly got up and shuffled out of the kitchen. On his way out, Harry looked around just to see Natalie and Sirius quietly whispering again, but as if feeling his look, they both looked up.

"Good night, Harry." Natalie gave him soft smile.

"Night, Harry." Sirius grumbled moodily.

"G'night." Harry mumbled and tried to smile but he couldn't. He wasn't sure what he was feeling. Part of him was utterly horrified of his godmother's injury. He might not have known Natalie for long but he didn't know what he would do had anything happened to her. Not to mention how much it would crush Sirius. Although Harry had noticed something between them in his fourth year, until now he hadn't realized how much did his Godparents depend on each other.

But the other part of Harry was more horrified about the fact, that Natalie could have died and no one had bothered to tell him. Sure, Natalie was right; it was very dangerous to mention anything about the members of the Order but when it came to this, Harry couldn't care less. With these thoughts, Harry climbed upstairs into his and Ron's bedroom.

In the kitchen downstairs the silence remained. Mundungus was sleeping again, Bill went to bed shortly after as did Mr. Weasley, leaving only Tonks, Lupin, Sirius and Natalie in the kitchen. Remus was sipping the remains of his wine again while Tonks was sadly staring into the fire but every now and then she threw a curious look at the werewolf, who was however absolutely obvious to this. Sirius was moodily staring at his glass of Firewhisky but his arm was still securely wrapped around Natalie.

"Would you pass me that bottle?" Natalie asked quietly and Sirius quirked an eyebrow at her and reached for the half-empty bottle of Firewhisky.

"You never drink." Remus objected softly when Natalie poured a glass and took a deep gulp.

"And I never yell." she said thoughtfully

"It served its purpose." Sirius said.

"Yeah, I just don't like making this whole awkward scene." Natalie said and downed her drink. "I guess I should apologize to Molly in the morning." she said and got up. "I think I'm off to bed as well. Don't be late, Hon." she said and leaned down to Sirius to give him a good-night kiss. Then she limped out of the kitchen, stopping behind Remus.

"Good night, Moony." she said and jokingly patted him on his head. He just smiled and shook his head at his friend. "Enjoy the rest of the evening, Tonks." Natalie said to the young pink-haired witch, not missing the deep blush on her face. Obviously, Tonks got the pun as she blushed even deeper.

As soon as she was out of the door, the slight smile vanished off Natalie's face. She had been trying very hard to keep it together in front of everyone but she felt she was cracking. It was too hard on her. Everyone had her for a strong person but this fight was a hard blow. For one, she wasn't proud of the fight. She still saw Mrs. Weasley's trembling lower lip and her stomach cramped with guilt. Sure Natalie didn't have to make a scene like this in front of everyone, but on the other hand, Natalie felt she had every right to intervene when Mrs. Weasley was holding Harry from information. And yes, she had also meant it when she accused Molly of trying to steal Harry. Rightfully, she and Sirius should have been Harry's guardians so yes, it was down to them to decide what was good for Harry. But it'd been a very long time since she had fight like this; her last outburst had been more than six years ago when she'd had the fight with Remus. Since then, she had tried to control her temper and with time, she had managed to be calm and level-headed most of the time. So really, after this big scene, she felt rather shaken.

Natalie slowly made her way upstairs, careful not to wake up anyone (or anything, for that matter). But she was surprised that the lights on the landing were still lit. And when she came to the third floor, there was Mrs. Weasley, softly creeping around the door, obviously listening to any possible noises from the bedroom. For a while, Natalie watched her and then she cleared her throat. At that, Mrs. Weasley jumped and put her hand over her chest in a startled gesture.

"Oh, Merlin. Natalie! You walk as a ghost." she said, but her tone was still bitter.

"I try. The kids are all asleep?" Natalie asked as calmly as she could but truthfully, she had to hold herself from rolling her eyes. She really didn't want to get into another fight with Mrs. Weasley but really, she did not see any point in creeping behind the door, listening if the kids were asleep. They were old enough, it was summer break and it wasn't like they could prevent them from talking the next day.

"Yes. Someone has to make sure the kids are asleep and not discussing Merlin-knows-what." she said sharply, as if reading her thoughts but this time Natalie gave up, although she knew well but the kids were anything but asleep.

"Of course. But look at how late it is. You should go too." she said politely, in order to prevent another fight.

Luckily, the scowl vanished from Molly's face, leaving only a tired look. "You're probably right. I'll just check on Fred and George and go to bed as well." she said and Natalie nodded.

"Right." She said and headed upstairs into Sirius' old bedroom. But then she stopped abruptly "Oh Molly!" she said and the redhead turned around. "I-I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's just…sometimes I get a little bit overprotective. And not only of Harry but also of Sirius."

"I'm sorry, too, Natalie." She said and Natalie nodded and finally went upstairs. She just changed from her clothes into her pyjamas and lay down into the large four-poster bed when the door opened again and Sirius came in.

"I've just seen Molly leave her patrol and go into her room. Are you alright, darling?" He stripped his shirt and trousers so he could crawl into the bed. Natalie sat up again and leaned against the pillows carefully, since her injuries were still tender.

"Yeah, I suppose…still embarrassed of making such a scene. I should have controlled myself. I'm really not proud of some things I've said."

"You had every right to be angry. I was as well. No one is going to question our responsibility over our godson. I'm actually sorry of not backing you up more." Natalie chuckled bitterly.

"Honey, you know me, you had no chance to be quicker than I. But that's not the point. Neither Molly nor we chose the right way to solve the argument tonight. And now I'm sure Harry's a bit confused as well."

Sirius wrapped his arm around her shoulders and looked at her curiously. "Did you really mean what you said?" He didn't have to elaborate what he meant.

Natalie sighed; she knew this conversation would come. "I- I meant it…of course. I know I haven't known the boy for long but I love him. And despite knowing he's not a little child anymore, I can't help but feel so overprotective of him. What do you think?"

"I think that everything and everyone seems to be getting between us and Harry. Azkaban, Dumbledore's orders, even our friends…it's frustrating. Harry was supposed to live with us from the beginning." He said bitterly and Natalie snuggled into the crook of his shoulder, feeling him lean his chin onto her head.

"Maybe we should talk to him, ask what he wants. He's been without real parent figures for so long. Because I definitely feel like finally taking the responsibility of him, whatever Dumbledore or Molly says but we don't know if that's what Harry really wants."

"Yeah, I kinda feel like telling Dumbledore off, too. I mean, I know he's a genius and he's got his reasons for everything he does, but…James and Lily wanted us to be Harry's guardians, not Dumbledore." Sirius said gruffly.

"Hmm." Natalie barely nodded and yawned. The day's events really took a toll on her. "Y'know, I was thinking – Arthur is supposed to take Harry for his audience. I should be fully recovered by that time. Not that I have anything against Arthur but I fully intend to be the one taking Harry to the Ministry." She said and at her words, Sirius brightened up.

"That's brilliant!" he said loudly so Natalie shushed him. "Maybe I should accompany you there. As Padfoot, of course." He added quickly. But when he felt Natalie stiffen in his arms, he sobered up. "You don't think it's a good idea, do you?" he asked, sounding frustrated and annoyed.

"Well I- " she began uneasily but Sirius already pulled away from her.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, just don't go on me telling me that I'm safe here! Don't you think I know that by now with everyone drilling it to me over and over? I don't care how dangerous it is, I want to be there for Harry." But Natalie silenced him by putting her fingers over his mouth.

"I didn't tell you anything like that." She said softly, ignoring his harsh tone with her. "Do I think it's crazy to show up right under the nose who want nothing else but throw you to the Dementors? Yes, I do. But I understand why you want to go and I think that as a responsible adult you should be able to decide that yourself. It's not up to me to tell you what to do. Besides, I know you and I know it would be pointless anyway." For a while, Sirius was staring at her, as if processing what she had just told him, but then he pried her fingers from his face so he could lean forward and kiss her fiercely.

"That's what I love about you. You always know what to say to make me feel better." He murmured against her lips.

"Really?" she smiled "And here I thought it was for my drop-dead-gorgeous looks." She joked.

"Hmm…that, too." He mumbled, nibbling on her jaw. Natalie responded by lying down on the bed and pulling him with her.

"Make love to me." She whispered into his ear.

"Are- you sure? I don't want to hurt you." He said, although with a great restraint.

"You won't." she sighed. "It's been too long."

"I agree. But, you know, Molly may be still sneaking around. She might overhear something inappropriate." He said jokingly and Natalie smirked and bit her lip.

"Let's give her something to be jealous of, shall we?"

"Oh, you're so wicked." He said and got back to nibbling on her jaw and neck.

**So? I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I suppose you all can guess that I'm not really Molly Weasley's fan. I always liked this scene in the book but I always went mad when Molly treated Sirius as she did and I always thought there should be some****one standing up for him. That's why I was glad to have Natalie there to do that. Yes, I admit, I'm rather obsessed with Sirius and his well-being:D Anyways, next time I can promise you will get to know what prank Sirius and Natalie are plotting, in case you are wondering;) Ta!**


	22. Emotional Rescue

**Hello everyone! I bet you all thought I was dead, or something. Well, you almost got that right – the end of the term with its exams kept me busy****. But finally, exams are over and here is another chapter. Enjoy it!**

"Bloody thing" Natalie grumbled as she blindly reached for the blaring alarm-clock on her night table. And she had a very good reason to complain – 5 am was a truly ridiculous time to get up. Any other day, she wouldn't be awake before nine. Today, however, Natalie made it a point to get up much earlier than she really had to. Because, this morning, Harry was having his hearing at the Ministry and Natalie was the one taking him there. Originally, Arthur Weasley should have been taking Harry with him to the Ministry, but just as they had said, Harry's godparents had a long talk with Dumbledore. Sirius hadn't been as lucky with the negotiation, but at last, Natalie had been allowed to take Harry with herself to work, on condition of not being present to Harry's hearing herself (to which she grudgingly consented).

Next to Natalie, Sirius groaned and sat up. "Is it time already?" he asked, his voice still hoarse from sleep.

"You don't have to get up if you don't want to." Natalie pointed out, and swept her covers aside, immediately shivering with cold. Sirius only gave her a blank look before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, not showing any signs of being cold himself. There was just no way Sirius would still be asleep while his godson was leaving for his hearing.

They both got dressed without speaking, both of them lost in their own thoughts, which, naturally, concerned Harry. As Natalie was getting dressed (all her injuries were fully healed by now), she wondered how had she been able to fall asleep the night before. She was so nervous! About two hours before she had fallen asleep, she had been trying to come up with a solution in case the hearing wouldn't end up well. Therefore, getting up was much harder than usually, though she wouldn't even think about sleeping in.

Natalie was surprised that they weren't the first to get up. Although she guessed that he was up to be the support for her and Sirius rather than Harry, Remus was sitting in the kitchen with them, drinking coffee (since none of them felt like eating anything). After a few minutes, the door opened and Tonks slowly shuffled inside, dragging her feet tiredly; and just shortly after, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen.

When Harry finally appeared in the kitchen, after having been woken up by Mrs. Weasley, he seemed to be taken aback by seeing so many people in the kitchen, but he wished them good morning nonetheless and joined them at the table. As the boy sat down next to her, Natalie scrutinized him, noticing his clean clothes, shaky hands and the way he gulped when asked about breakfast. Yes, he was indeed nervous, terrified maybe. The whole time, Natalie didn't join the conversation, only kept her eye on Harry. The poor boy didn't say a word the whole time either and he was munching at his toast as if it was made of cardboard. Only when Mrs. Weasley was trying to flatten his hair with a wet comb, Natalie had enough. Sure, she didn't want to repeat the awful scene from a few weeks before, but Molly's fussing over the already-anxious boy was vexing her. Deciding to save her Godson, she downed the remains of her coffee and got up from her chair.

"Harry, get your jacket. We're leaving." She said, taking her own denim jacket. To her relief, after Harry put away the remains of his breakfast and got up, Mrs. Weasley was forced to give up and leave Harry's hair alone.

"Are you alright?" she asked after they came out into the chilly morning air. Again, as everyone else, she just received a nod. "Look at the brighter side." She said encouragingly.

Harry snorted. "Which is?" he asked dryly.

"Well…you can get out of the house for a while, and then, you'll see Auror's Headquarters. You still want to be an Auror, don't you?"

"I guess. Only now, my chances of becoming one are quite thin, don't you think?" Harry pointed out.

"Nah, you'll be fine. As Tonks said – Amelia Bones is a reasonable woman. She'll judge you fairly."

"Seriously, you're not worried that I might be expelled? Not one bit?" Harry asked incredulously because himself, he was a bundle of nerves. Hearing his question, Natalie sighed. She was trying to be strong for him, but she just couldn't lie to him.

"Honestly? I barely slept last night, thinking up scenarios of what could happen today. I was trying to come up with a back-up plan in case you'd been expelled from school. Don't think I don't worry, Harry, I do. But I'm an optimist." She said and Harry nodded. Not that he was relieved by Natalie's confession but knowing that he wasn't the only one worried helped a bit.

"So, what did you come up with?" he asked after a while.

Natalie gave him a quizzical look. "Hmm?"

"The solutions in case I was expelled." Truly, this was his biggest worry right now – what would happen with him if he was expelled.

"Well, first I thought of having a nice talk with Amelia Bones, then I thought of bribery to get you re-admitted, and even going into politics to change the legislation on underage magic, but finally I came up with a realistic plan."

"Which is?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, you'd be expelled from Hogwarts. But not from other schools, right? I would probably pull some strings and get you into one of the American schools since Australia is too far away and other countries are out of question because of the language barrier, obviously."

Harry gaped at her, not knowing if he should be amazed, horrified, happy, or if he should be taking her seriously at all. "What? Are- you'd really send me to American school?"

"Yeah. Well, if you'd want to, of course." She added but Harry was still eyeing her sceptically.

"Are you pulling my leg?"

"What? No, I'm not. Not this time. I was thinking about it, Harry. I want you to have good education and if our Ministry is denying you the chance to get it in Britain, other schools will be much better."

For a while, Harry was quiet, trying to imagine attending a school in America. He couldn't say he liked it. It would be so different; he would be far away from everyone, in different country, with no friends. He could not imagine going to school with anyone else but Ron and Hermione. But then again, if he was expelled, he wouldn't be going to school with them anyway…perhaps Natalie was right. It would be the only chance to get education.

"Is there a school in America?" he asked curiously, not even noticing that he and Natalie stopped at a bus stop.

"Oh yeah, several, actually. There's the Salem Institute, of course. Then there's a big school in New York, one in Florida, San Francisco and then two in Canada, now I can't recall where exactly. Oh, and Alaska."

"That's…a lot of schools. Which one would I attend?"

"Well, the Salem Institute for Wizards and Witches seems most appropriate. I've got several friends in America, who could help me to get you in."

"You've got friends in America?" Harry wondered.

"From the time the Marauders took the trip to Texas and Mexico." She said with a nostalgic smile.

"Really?" Harry asked, almost forgetting about his impending audience.

"Yep. Well, it was not a planned trip, actually. It was just shortly after we finished Hogwarts and your dad, Sirius and I were admitted into the Auror's programme. We were…uhm, celebrating, and someone got this great idea to take a trip somewhere. It's a long story. Somehow, we ended up in Texas and spent there two weeks, got a Muggle car and went to Mexico. But I shouldn't be telling you this without Sirius and Remus. The point is, we'd met some wizards from the Salem's Institute and several years ago, I went to America and met one of them. He's a teacher there, now. Come on." She nodded at him when the bus stopped and Harry followed her in.

"Well, that…sounds promising." Harry said, not knowing what else to say since he still wasn't sure what he thought of Natalie's idea. Though he wanted to become a fully-trained wizard and join the Aurors one day, England was still his home. He had his friends there. He had never even been out of the country.

"It might but that doesn't matter. We won't need this plan." Natalie said and they took two seats, Harry taking the window seat.

"Natalie? Is it safe to…uhm, go out just like this? I mean, aren't you worried that we might be followed or something?" Harry asked after a while, careful that the other passengers didn't hear.

"Not really, Harry. The Muggle public transport is the last place any of the Death Eaters would ever set their foot in. Just imagine Lucius Malfoy in a bus or in an underground." She whispered and Harry couldn't help but grin. She did have a point there. "Doesn't mean that I'm not gripping my wand the whole time. Don't worry, Harry, I won't let anything happen to you." she said seriously and Harry suddenly didn't know what to answer, so he just nodded.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked a while later.

"We're getting off on Charring Cross. The Ministry's just a short distance away." Natalie answered.

"But you don't usually go to work by bus, do you?"

"Usually not. Only sometimes, when I want to walk for a bit and clear my head. Oh, look, there's a nice view of London now." she pointed out of the window and Harry looked outside, having the perfect view of the city. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Natalie remarked and Harry nodded before looking out of the window again.

"Are you originally from London?" he asked curiously, suddenly realizing that he knew almost nothing of his Godmother.

"Not originally, no." she shook her head. "But I lived with my grandparents not far away from London, so before I went to Hogwarts, I used to spend a lot of time here anyways. Every other weekend, my grandpa took our car and we would go to London to play tourists- uhm, sorry, I must be boring you to death with my childhood stories-"

"No! I mean, not at all. I would like to know, please. I don't really know anything about you except the stories from Hogwarts. I mean, if it's not uncomfortable to talk about it…"

"That's alright, Harry. But you must have a lot on your mind right now."

"Yes and that's why I would rather listen than talk, you know?" Harry admitted. "So, why did you live with your grandparents?" he asked carefully, knowing that the question was rather blunt. But his Godmother didn't look very upset.

"Well, my grandparents took me in after my parents died in car accident." she said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Harry quickly apologized.

"That's alright, Harry. They died when I was about a year-old. I don't even remember them."

"You were just the same age as I was when my parents died..." Harry remarked, looking away.

"Yeah..." Natalie said quietly, before continuing. "Anyway, I lived with my grandparents, and I also had an old great-aunt May and great-uncle Melvin. Crazy people from what I remember." she said and Harry chuckled.

"And no one of your family was…uhm, like us?" he said, knowing it would be foolish to mention magic among so many Muggles.

"Not that I know of. At least, my grandparents were shocked when I got my letter. At first, they thought it was some kind of joke. Until Dumbledore came and explained everything, of course. I suppose he does it with children from Muggle families. Needless to say, they weren't very thrilled by the notion of their eleven-year-old girl going away to a boarding school, but they would never hinder me. In fact, after they warmed up to the idea, they supported me immensely."

"They sound like great people." Harry commented.

"They were. They were wonderful people." Natalie nodded.

"What happened to them?"

"They died soon after I finished school. My grandmother died just about a year after I got into the Auror training – she'd been sick for a long time before that – and my grandfather followed her a few years later. He's never been the same without her... alright, Harry, come on, this is our stop." She said and so Harry reluctantly followed her out of the bus.

The Ministry of Magic was intimidating. Everything from the dark walls and floor, to the fountain in the middle of the atrium, to the horde of rushing people and the requirement to get his wand checked up. And with his impending audition, Harry was even more nervous than before, though he was still looking around curiously, as Natalie was leading him to a smaller hall with elevators.

"Good morning, Miss Crane." A wizard with a long beard said, while shifting the large box in his arms.

"Oh, morning, Bob." Natalie answered politely, but Harry sensed that her tone was rather strained. "How are you?"

"Well enough, thanks for asking. Busy though. See here? Just this morning we found this fire-breathing chicken. Just another violation of the Ban on Experimental breeding."

"I see." Natalie said just when the lift arrived and Harry was squeezed in with the crowd of people. Both he and Natalie were now pressed against the wall of the lift, but the fact didn't keep Bob from making conversation with Natalie.

"I haven't seen you for a while. You've been taking vacation, I heard." Bob said and Natalie nodded.

"Yes, I needed to take time off. It's been hectic in our department." She said vaguely

"Oh, yes, I imagine it must be, especially with Sirius Black still at large. So, was it good? Where did you go?"

"France."

"That must have been beautiful. Oh, this is my floor. Nice to see, you, Miss Crane."

"You too." Natalie answered as he got out. "_Bastard_." She muttered under her breath, careful that none of her colleagues heard her. But Harry did, and he gaped at his godmother in astonishment.

Finally, the lift stopped at the second level, which was where Harry and Natalie stepped out and headed down a long corridor.

"Uhm, Natalie what was th-"

"I just hate those bastards from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." She spat.

"Why? Bob seemed alright…" Harry wondered.

"Yeah, well, Bob is one of the few nicer ones in there but he's still a bastard." She said, frowning deeply.

"I don't under-"

"Harry, don't you remember what almost happened to a certain Hippogriff?" she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Oh."

"Yeah, exactly. Some of these people would execute Remus just for what he is. What do you think will happen to the poor chicken after they are through with it? All right, never mind, let's go. The Headquarter's this way." She said and so Harry followed her through the corridor to the large oak door. She pushed it open and Harry was in the Auror Headquarters for the first time in his life.

The place sure seemed way too cheerful for people who were facing danger on daily basis but still, Harry was intrigued. It was buzzing with talk and laughter and the cubicles were a blend of different personalities.

"Hey, Crane, nice from you to show up, girl." A booming voice yelled and Natalie snorted before turning around. The wizard was comfortably lounging on the chair in his cubicle and throwing a bright ball over the wall of the cubicle with his neighbour who, upon hearing her name being mentioned, got up and peeked over the wall of his cubicle.

"Hey there, Natalie. How was your vacation?" he asked cheekily.

"It was great, thanks, Connelly." She answered with a grin.

"You wanna play with us?" the first wizard asked and threw the ball to Natalie, who caught it swiftly before throwing it back.

"Unlike you, I'm busy right now, so maybe another time." She said.

"Your loss." The wizard shrugged as she and Harry continued on their way.

"This one's mine, Harry." She said and led Harry into a cubicle. Natalie's cubicle was painted pale yellow and instead of the posters of wanted criminals, the walls were decorated by a few photographs and some pictures of some Muggle rock bands. The table was covered with papers and seeing that, Natalie sighed. "Bloody paperwork. Ok, sit down here, Harry." She said and pointed at a chair in front of her desk as she changed her denim jacket for scarlet-robes and flopped down onto her own chair. "Are you thirsty Harry? Or hungry?" she asked but the boy only shook his head. Food was the last thing he wanted right now.

"What are these files about? Are they about the criminals you arrested?" Harry asked to take his mind of the hearing again.

"Something like that. Well, they are not really all about the criminals. I've been gone for some time, so there are likely to be all kinds of paperwork you can think of. From the files of the cases I'm working on with someone, the reports of some actions, some researches I have to do and also summary of last month – you know, how many actions did I took part in and so on. Actually," she bit her lip as she took the file lying on top of the pile. "It's just this one. But this can't be right. I didn't do any lecturing of Auror trainees." She frowned. "I should see Kingsley about it. Wanna come with me?" she asked Harry and he nodded. "Just remember – you aren't supposed to know him." Natalie said quietly and then got up from her table and led Harry through the Headquarters to Kingsley's cubicle.

"Kingsley?" she asked, knocking at the doorframe of his cubicle before she paused. Harry, who upon peering into the cabin was shocked to see Sirius' face on every wall, noticed that a short plump witch with greying hair was standing in Kingsley's cubicle and talking with him about something. "Oh, good morning, Mrs. Bones." Natalie greeted the witch.

"Miss Crane, good to see you. I see you're here today with Mr. Potter for his audition. But shouldn't you already be downstairs? I was just about going there myself." She said and Natalie frowned in confusion.

"Downstairs? I thought the hearing is to take place in your office. At nine o'clock."

"Oh no, Miss Crane. The time and place of the hearing was changed. You were certainly notified about it. It is at eight o'clock, Courtroom Ten." She said and Natalie gasped.

"Eight o'clock? But that's in ten minutes! We haven't been notified about it at all! And why is the hearing in the courtroom?" she questioned the witch, while Harry could only listen, frozen in shock.

"I don't know myself. Personally, I would be happier if the hearing took place in my office, I hate going down there. But it was Cornelius' special request. I suppose the owl must have missed you." The witch explained and Natalie nodded resignedly.

"We should go then. I'll talk to you later, Kingsley." She told the wizard and then put her hand onto Harry's shoulder, which made him snap back into present. "Come on, Harry, we must go." She said, her tone suddenly cold as ice. Quite stiffly, Harry followed her out into the hall again, where they waited for the elevator.

"Special request of the Minister." Natalie spat. "And the notice has conveniently missed us, my ass. We're lucky to have met Madame Bones. It takes some time to get down there."

"Why does Fudge want the hearing to be in the courtroom?" Harry asked as they got into the lift and Natalie pressed a button.

"There could be several reasons. None of them is very nice." Natalie said darkly and Harry sighed.

"Could you tell me?"

"Well, first of all, the hearing in the courtroom is rather…intimidating. And it is like Fudge to make a huge deal out of this. I wouldn't be surprised if he invited some reporters as well. And then, in case of a normal hearing like yours, only Madame Bones and Fudge should participate. I'm afraid he called the whole Wizengamot."

"The whole Wizengamot?" Harry gulped, suddenly feeling as if the piece of toast he had eaten was doing somersaults in his stomach.

"I'm afraid so, Harry." Natalie said and put her arm around his shoulders comfortingly. "But that won't matter. What you did, was a perfectly correct action. They can't expel you, no matter how many of them is there." At least she hoped…

Finally, they were in front of the door to courtroom ten and they still had a few minutes to spare. "Now, Harry," Natalie said before he went inside, and put both her hands on the boy's shoulders. "I know you're scared. But that's exactly what they want. That's why the hearing is in this damn room."

"Yeah, they're doing good work, don't you think?" Harry said bitterly and Natalie smiled slightly.

"I think you went through much worse things than a bloody hearing. Don't let them intimidate you. And remember, no matter of what the result of this hearing will be, Padfoot and I are here to deal with it, ok? We won't let them break your wand and send you to the Dursleys for the rest of your life, I promise." She smiled at him and finally, Harry smiled back. It helped to know that he wouldn't have to go back to his aunt and uncle and lead a truly miserable life until he was at least seventeen. Before Natalie send Harry inside, she pulled him into a tight hug and he found himself hugging her back just as tightly, taking the comfort. "Now go. I'll meet you here." She said when she let go of him.

"Right." Harry nodded.

"Good luck." She wished before he opened the door and walked into the courtroom…

Natalie paced…and then paced….and then paced some more. To her relief, Dumbledore had arrived a few minutes after Harry went inside, which surely gave Harry more hope. But still, she was nervous, so nervous that her lower lip was almost bleeding by the force she was biting into it. It seemed to her like an eternity. Finally, the door opened and Dumbledore came out. Natalie opened her mouth to ask him about the result, but he just swept past her and left. Natalie shook her head. Sometimes, Dumbledore was so mysterious that it was not very easy to put up with him. When a few of the Wizengamot wizards left as well, Harry finally appeared at the doorway, breathing hard as if he was running all the way out.

"So?" Natalie asked anxiously.

"I was cleared of all charges." Harry said brightly.

"YES!" Natalie exclaimed so loudly, that several wizards and witches, including the Minister, gave her curious looks. But she didn't seem to care. Instead, she threw her arms around Harry again. "Harry, that's brilliant! See? I told you, you would be going back to Hogwarts!" she said happily. "Come on, let's get out of here." She said and Harry felt as if he had never heard a better idea. "Now, I feel like I should take you somewhere to celebrate." She said as they were ascending the stairs. "But I'm not sure it's such a great idea. Not only is it rather dangerous right now, but I know that Molly's making a huge lunch. She will have my head if it goes waste…"

"That's alright, you don't have-" Harry said but he paused mid-sentence when he saw Lucius Malfoy talking to Fudge. He also could hear Natalie's breath hitch in her throat. Harry imagined that Natalie and he were in a similar situation right now. He had last seen Malfoy on the graveyard while facing Lord Voldemort, and Natalie had told Harry about her recent run in with the Death Eater. Indeed, when she put her hand on Harry's shoulder, the boy could feel the hand was shaking.

"The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter. Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes… _snakelike_, in fact." Malfoy said, mocking them in front of the Minister himself.

"Yeah, I'm good at escaping." Harry answered.

"Do you need something from the boy, Malfoy?" Natalie asked sharply, not caring that Fudge was witnessing the whole exchange. She saw red with rage.

"Of course, you must have got this ability from your Godmother." Malfoy said and turned his cold eyes at Natalie. "I hear that recently, you managed to…escape the rush of the Ministry and have a nice holiday." He said, his thin lips curling into a sarcastic grin.

"Oh, yeah, it was very relaxing." Natalie retorted.

"Well, you should be more careful not to overwork. We don't want you to go on another holiday soon, do we?" he mocked and Natalie clenched her fist.

"I doubt I will. I know how to take care of myself. But perhaps you should be looking for a holiday destination soon. You might need it." She said but Malfoy only sneered.

"No worries. I don't tire so easily. Now, if you excuse me, I have some work to do…shall we go up to your office, then, Minister?" he said and the two men left.

"Let's go, Harry." She said and led the boy upstairs. "Such a bloody prick." She spat.

"What was he doing here anyway?" Harry asked angrily.

"What do you think? Snooping, no doubt. Trying to find out the result of your hearing. Not that he had much trouble with that; it only took him to ask Fudge about it." Natalie said bitterly. I have to tell Dumbledore about this. Malfoy and Fudge have been meeting rather often lately." She said and Harry suddenly thought of something disturbing.

"Don't you think that the Death Eaters could be using Imperius Curse on Fudge?" he asked Natalie quietly and she sighed.

"Yeah, we already thought of that. It's possible, of course. But we think that it's not necessary to put Fudge under the Imperius Curse to gain his influence. Why do you think Malfoy always donates such huge amounts of gold? Fudge is under his thumb and he's acting on his own accord. Which is rather more disturbing than the Imperius Curse, don't you think?" Natalie said and Harry had to agree.

Once outside, Harry took a deep breath of the warm summer air. It felt wonderful. Despite the unwelcome encounter in the Ministry, Harry couldn't help but feel happier than ever. A huge burden had just been taken of him and he felt giddy with relief. The whole way home, he was speaking to Natalie, which was also his way to take her mind of the encounter with Malfoy.

"So, are you and Sirius planning another prank?" Harry asked eagerly while they were sitting in the bus again.

"Well, we were thinking of a few but we have been distracted with your hearing lately." Natalie explained and Harry nodded. The last prank Natalie and Sirius had pulled out was one of the brighter points in his stay in Grimmauld Place so far. It had turned out, that Natalie's suggestion to polish the floor was a mere camouflage. Somehow (and the children were still of the opinion that she had used a Confounding charm), Natalie had managed to talk Molly into polishing the floors on the day of the Order meeting. As not to soil the spotless floor in the hall, all members of the household, as well as visitors, had been given a pair of slippers, usually fluffy and of some vibrant colour (Tonks had been rather fond of them and immediately, she had changed her hair to match the colour of her slippers). While Natalie had been preparing the ground for their prank, Sirius was given the practical task – to put the targeted Sticking Charm on the slippers. Therefore, in the evening, not only had been Professor Snape given a pair of bright yellow fluffy slippers, but he had been forced to leave the house with them firmly sticking to his feet…

Harry chuckled at the memory and Natalie joined him. "We should not overdo it." She said. But then, her smile faltered. "But the truth is, these are not only pranks, Harry. Sirius is unhappy in the Grimmauld Place, you know that." She said and Harry nodded. "He's closed in the house he has so many horrid memories of and his chances of leaving it anytime soon are thin. I'm doing what I can to distract him and the pranks are a part of that. He's going crazy with nothing to do."

"I know. Is there something I can do for him? I want to help him." Harry said but Natalie sighed sadly.

"There's not much you can do, Harry. The only thing that would help him would be Wormtail getting caught. This is not happening anytime soon. We can only keep him company, but even that's impossible to do all the time. I have my job and my work for the Order, and you have your friends and Molly's also keeping you all busy with the cleaning."

"But there must be something we can do." Harry objected.

"I wish there was." Natalie sighed again.

Once back at the Grimmauld Place, everyone was celebrating the result of Harry's hearing. But while Harry was talking with Ron and Hermione, and the twins and Ginny were chanting loudly, Natalie slid into the chair next to Sirius.

"I have to talk to you." she said and he looked at her quizzically.

"What is it?"

"Not here. Let's go somewhere else; it's too loud in here." Natalie suggested. Sirius nodded and together, they left into the drawing room.

"So?"

"When we were leaving the Ministry, we met Lucius Malfoy-"

"What?" Sirius exclaimed.

"He was talking to Fudge on the Level nine. Then they went into his office to discuss something further. We must tell Dumbledore, Merlin knows what Malfoy's up to."

"We will, don't worry. But…are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Natalie asked evasively, but it took one quirked eyebrow from Sirius and she gave up and sighed. "Alright, so I'm a bit shaken up. It's the first time I had seen him since he tried to slice me up, so…besides, he had some remarks, not that I can't take those, of course."

"What did he say?"

"Basically, that I should watch my back if I don't want to get my ass kicked again." She summarised and Sirius clenched his teeth.

"Bastard." He spat and began pacing the room agitatedly. "Bloody bastard! When I get to him, I will repay him for every scratch he made on you-" he rambled.

"Sirius." Natalie admonished him and he sobered up.

"I know. Empty threats, right?" he said bitterly and ran his hand through his messy hair.

"It's not that. But perhaps, I don't want you to. Perhaps, I want to do that myself." She said and despite his bitter mood, he smirked.

"That's my girl. Although, I would very much like to do that for you. But no, instead, I'm stuck inside of this bloody house." He said, his bitter tone getting back.

"Padfoot, I don't doubt for a bit that one day, you'll be able to do just that." Natalie tried to console him.

"I wish you were right, because I'm going crazy in here." He said and Natalie sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I know, honey. But you must hold on. If not for yourself or for me, then for Harry. He needs you." She said and he snorted.

"What good am I to him?"

"Plenty. Harry doesn't need a hero, he needs a family." At that, Sirius didn't respond. "I love you, you know?" Natalie said after a while and felt Sirius sigh.

"I know. Love you, too." He said and kissed the top of her head.

"We should get back down." Natalie suggested and pulled away from Sirius.

"You go downstairs; I'll be there in a while." Sirius said when they were on the landing and Natalie watched him sadly as he climbed up the stairs, undoubtedly heading into Buckbeak's room.

**So, we had some Harry/Natalie bonding, the promised prank and Sirius getting more**** and more sulky. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. See ya next time!**


	23. Torn and Frayed

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Natalie.**

"Come on. Just talk to me."

No answer.

"You won't help anyone by being like this, you know?"

Snort.

"You really are like a small kid!"

Eye-roll.

"Sirius, please, stop this!" Natalie said angrily. Truthfully, she had enough. Harry had left for Hogwarts not even two weeks ago and it seemed that Sirius was already suffering from severe depression. Of course, it didn't help that over the time, Natalie had been swamped with work for both the Ministry and the Order, but she really tried to spend at least some time with Sirius. Not that he appreciated it, apparently. Instead, he became snappy and short-tempered to such an extent, that when Natalie disagreed in the smallest thing, there was a serious danger of him blowing up on her. Natalie sure understood the pressure Sirius was under; after all, she knew him well. Herself, she would rip her hair out for being confined to this awful house but she was trying as much as she could to cheer Sirius up. And what did she get? A glare from her boyfriend…

"Alright, fine. What exactly do you want to talk about, hm? The weather? Or what's new in this bloody house?" he said sarcastically, and got up from the dirty floor of Buckbeak's room. "Let's see…It's been rather rainy today from what I can tell. Kreacher only cursed me twice today and oh, there's a mouse in the kitchen cupboard." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. But Natalie knew better than to lose her temper.

"You know pretty well what I want to talk about." She stated and Sirius sighed, a frown forming on his face.

"I know what you want to talk about. So come on, just on with it, love. Tell me how stupid it was to Floo-call Harry, how I could have got caught." He said darkly.

It was Natalie's turn to sigh and sit down on the dusty bed, not minding her Auror robes getting dirty. "I don't want to tell you off for this, Sirius. I can see why you did it, I really can. Was it dangerous? Yes, sure, but I guess that sending Hedwig with an answer might have been even worse. But you had _no_ right telling Harry what you did!" she said, not being able to hold off the sharp tone away at her last sentence. Honestly, when Natalie had come to Grimmauld place this evening and found Sirius with his head in the fireplace, talking to their Godson, she hadn't been surprised in the least. But as she had heard Sirius' last words to Harry, her jaw had dropped in astonishment. It was one thing that Sirius was mostly taking his fool mood on her (although her patience was running thin), but now he was acting the same way towards Harry as well!

Sirius didn't answer; he just sat down as well and ran his hand through his messy hair, not daring to look at his girlfriend. Natalie suddenly felt as if she was reprimanding a small child, but she couldn't help but be angry. "Really, Sirius, what were you thinking? That boy has a lot on his plate already; he doesn't need you to put him into more stress."

Sirius snorted. "Come on, Nat. He isn't a small child. He can take it." He stated.

"But that's not really the point. The point is, that you're taking your mood out on Harry, and it isn't fair! He is worried about you as it is, and you can't expect him to jump with joy at the thought of you being in danger because of him. If something happened to you, Harry would have never forgiven himself, Sirius. You are the closest thing to a father he has. And just about a month ago, you demanded your guardian rights; therefore it's your responsibility not to put yourself in danger just because you are bored!" Natalie said.

"Are you quite finished?" Sirius said calmly. "Because I'm not really in mood for one of your lectures. I don't see anything wrong in wanting to see my Godson. And if there's a little danger involved, then so be it. And nothing I said to Harry was a lie – he isn't like James. James would have jumped for the opportunity."

For a while, Natalie was quiet, considering what Sirius had said. "He wouldn't." she said after a while. "James would have jumped for the opportunity only if it concerned his own arse. He would have never put _you_ into such danger just for the thrill, and you know it."

"Alright!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed. "I get it! Just…stop it already, will you? I shouldn't have taken my mood out on Harry, but I just can't stand it anymore, can't you see it? The one time I get out of here to see Harry off, I hear lectures from Molly, Moody and Dumbledore, and then once again, after the damn article in the Prophet came out! And you've been here just ten minutes and it's nothing but more of bloody lectures!"

"Stop yelling at me!" Natalie said sharply, although struggling to keep her tone calm. "It's not easy for you, I know that. And I get that it is annoying when everyone is telling you what to do as if you truly were a dog, although they mean well. But this matter wasn't about you; it was about you being a jerk to Harry. I love you, Sirius, but I won't keep quiet just not to hurt your feelings if it concerns Harry." She said and got up from the bed. "I'll leave you alone." She told him before leaving the room.

For a while, she considered leaving Grimmauld Place for the evening. She really didn't feel like staying in the cold house which would only contribute to her foul mood. However, she felt it wouldn't be very fair to Sirius, who was forced to stay here. Therefore, she decided to stay, but find some place in here that would provide at least some peace to her (which wasn't very easy in this house). But, when she came down into the hall and was about to head into the basement kitchen, she noticed a door, she had never noticed before. She even doubted anyone else gave it much attention. It was dirty as everything in Grimmauld place, its colour almost blending with the dark wall. However, Natalie had an idea of where the door could lead to. And sure enough, when she tried the rusty handle and the door opened with a squeak, she saw a cramped backyard. She had seen it from her window before, but never had thought to actually go there. But now, when she needed to breathe some air, it was just the place to go. Although the place was unkept and probably hadn't seen a living person in a whole decade, she was still outside of the house. Therefore, she went down the path of cracked paving, around the overgrown bushes of roses and flowerbeds of weed or dead flowers until she found a bench. It was rather decayed, with a few boards broken, but she sat down, settling down on the backrest and resting her feet carefully on the broken seat. With a sigh, she looked up, curious to see stars, but the sky was clouded.

Although the air was cooling her heated skin, thoughts were still running through her head. Natalie had kept herself collected during her argument with Sirius, but now, her hands were shaking. Sure, they had fought before, but none of the fights had seemed so…hopeless as this one. Because fighting with Sirius while he was being stubborn was nothing out of ordinary, such an argument would be settled and forgotten right away. But this was something more than fighting against his stubbornness; it was fighting against his depression and Natalie knew that unless he helped her with it, there was no chance of winning. She had tried to distract Sirius as much as she could, but it was actually working less and less.

Of course, Natalie wasn't that naïve to think that keeping him busy with cleaning and pranks would actually keep his mind of the present situation. On the other hand, she was trying and at the very least, she would deserve a little bit of credit from Sirius…But right now wasn't the time to dwell on appreciation of her effort, what she needed to think about now was the way to fix this mess. Because it was clear that she and Sirius couldn't continue like this. Sirius needed to get out of his depression and Natalie was determined to figure out how. Of course, the only effective way would be to get him free and able to join the work of the Order and help their Godson. But she was a realist; they weren't closer to catching Pettigrew than to catching Voldemort himself. Wherever he was now, he would be almost impossible to find, since he was under the protection of Voldemort himself. Natalie supposed that the bloody rat was toddling after Voldemort and licking his shoes, very much like he had done at school with them. Therefore, if she wanted to help Sirius, she would have to find a more effective way. She just didn't know how…

Sighing, she looked up at the sky again. Suddenly, something wet spattered on her forehead. And then again. And again. Sure, just her luck that it had to rain when she wanted to sit outside. In a matter of seconds, the rain was pouring from the thick dark clouds, soaking her through. But soon she found, that she didn't mind all that much. It actually had a calming effect on her as she tilted her head even more back and let the rain wash her face. Suddenly, she found herself crying, relieving a tension she hadn't even been aware of. She was rather glad she hadn't broken down in front of Sirius since she didn't like to be seen as a cry-baby, but right now, it felt wonderful. Besides, the raindrops were mingling with her tears, hiding them effectively. She didn't know how long had she been sitting there, getting soaked to the bone, but she decided to let the tears fall until all of the tension would be gone. However, as she ran her hand over her face to wipe away the rivulets of water and tears that were plastering her hair to her cheeks, her eyes suddenly fell at the dark house, more specifically the doorframe. She gasped with a slight shock when she saw the tall frame of her boyfriend leaning against the door, watching her closely.

"Natalie? What are you doing?" he asked as he headed to her, his voice calm again, though not all of the bitterness was gone.

Running her hand over her face once again to wipe the tears away, she shrugged. "Getting some fresh air." She said as nonchalantly as she could. Hell if she would admit she was crying because of him. However, she should have known there was no fooling of Sirius Black.

"Have you been crying?" he asked as soon as he looked more closely at her.

"No." she answered, rolling her eyes inwardly.

"Why don't you come inside? You're going to catch your death in this weather." He suggested.

"I like it here. Just as much as you seem to like Buckbeak's room." She said rather coldly, her emotions betraying her. Sighing, Sirius eased on the bench next to her, apparently not caring that he would get soaked as well.

"I'm sorry." He said after a moment.

"For what exactly?" Natalie asked, still not looking at him.

"For…everything, I guess. For being a jerk to Harry. For being a jerk to you. I know that I have been acting like an arse to you lately. And you don't deserve it."

Natalie finally looked at him with sad eyes. "It's not your fault that you have a depression."

"I don't have a depression." Sirius contradicted her immediately and Natalie snorted.

"No? And what else exactly causes your behavior? You're moping around all the time, you're snappy at everyone – what else is that if not a depression, Sirius?"

"Look," Sirius said slowly. "I may not have been the easiest person to talk to lately, because yes, I'm getting frustrated by being restricted to this house. But I have been locked up in Azkaban for twelve years, trust me, this situation is much better."

"Then what is it, Sirius?" Natalie exclaimed desperately. He sure didn't make it any easier for her to understand him right now.

"Perhaps I'm…afraid, alright?" he said quietly and Natalie couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. Sure, with Voldemort gaining power, everyone was afraid of their lives and the lives of their loved ones, but Sirius was the last person she would have expected to admit it. "I'm not afraid of death, mind you." Sirius continued without waiting for her answer, as if worried that if he had paused, he would lose courage to continue altogether. "I'm afraid of what my passivity might cause. I can't do anything by being closed here, I can't really help Harry if he needed me, just like I couldn't help you from getting hurt. And I'm also afraid of what this situation might do to the two of us." He said and Natalie looked at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? I'm closed in here, with the biggest task of the day being dusting the shelves in the library, while you're outside, facing the dangers. Also, the responsibility for Harry falls on you, because if I waltzed into the Ministry and demanded my guardian rights, I would be carted away to Azkaban. Doesn't make me feel like a man, you know?" he chuckled bitterly. "And sooner or later, you're going to realize it as well."

"What?" Natalie asked incredulously and Sirius nodded.

"Yes, sooner or later, you're going to realize that you don't need me. What for would you, anyway?"

"Don't say that! How can you even suggest something like that? You don't know me very well if you really believe something like this would cause me to dump you." Natalie retorted, a bit hurt of what Sirius suggested.

"I'm sorry, but sometimes I just can't help but wonder… I haven't been much of a boyfriend to you yet. I can't even take you on a proper date."

"And don't you think I knew before I started dating you that you wouldn't be able to do that? Sirius, I've waited for thirteen years for you, I won't dump you now just because you can't take me to Madame Pudifood's." she said slowly and Sirius nodded.

"I know that. But sometimes I just can't help it but have this irrational fear that you would. Perhaps that's why I've been treating you like this." He concluded.

Natalie gave him a side-ways look and scrunched her nose. "That's pretty stupid, you know?" she said and Sirius just couldn't help but laugh; she looked just like she had when they were young.

"I know." He nodded, his grin vanishing again. "And I can't even tell you how sorry I am. You didn't deserve it. Over the last months, you've been so good to me. I don't know how I would manage without you." He said, putting his hand onto her cheek. "I love you. I feel like I don't say that enough to you, not as often as you deserve but I do. I. love. You." He emphasized every word with a kiss.

Natalie wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his chest, although a bit awkwardly since they both were still seated on the bench and their clothes were now soaked through. "I know that. And I love you too." Not minding the rain or the awkward position, they stayed like that for a while before Natalie remembered something. "You know," she mumbled into his chest. "I've brought you cigarettes." She announced and pulled out a pack from her pocket and gave it to him.

"You're an angel, you know that?" Sirius said, trying to unwrap the packet with one hand, since his right arm was still wrapped around Natalie. "You want one?" he asked when he finally managed to rip the foil from the packet. Only then, Natalie looked up, scrunching her nose again.

"They will get soaked in this rain." She remarked and admitting she was right, Sirius put the pack into his pocket.

"Let's get inside, shall we?" he said finally and Natalie nodded, since she was already freezing.

"How about taking shower?" Natalie suggested when they came back into the dark hall.

"Love, I know of much better way to get warm." Sirius winked at her but Natalie gave him a mischievous smile.

"And who said we can't do both?" she said slyly and started up the stairs.

Later that night, when they were laying in each other's arms and finally drifting to sleep, Sirius suddenly realized something.

"Natalie?" he asked quietly.

"Hmm?" she murmured, not able to formulate a meaningful sentence anymore.

"Not even when I'm finally free will we set a foot into Madame Pudifood's." he said and even in her sleepy state Natalie couldn't help but giggle. This was the Sirius she remembered.

**So, this was another chapter. Sorry, it's short, I know. But since my updates are so slow, I decided to make shorter chapters more often than longer chapters that take ages to post. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**** And thanks for all of your reviews, that's what keeps me writing.**


	24. Fool To Cry

"I don't know, Blossom." Sirius scratched his neck, staring at the box on the ground hesitantly. "Are you sure you were paying attention at Hogwarts? Because you'd know that this thing won't work in this house. You know, since there is magic everywhere and all..."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I know that, grumpy." She smacked his shoulder lightly "But we might remedy it with some spells or something to make it work. We could even ask Arthur for some hints." She suggested. "Come on, we're the Marauders, the inventors of the Marauder's Map. I'm sure this will be a piece of cake and it could really make the time spent here at least a little bit more bearable." She said. "Besides, it was you who modified the motorbike to make it fly, all by yourself." She added as an afterthought.

"You're right. And I guess that listening to this thing will be more enjoyable than listening to my dear mother's yelling." Sirius nodded.

"You're supposed to watch it, darling, not listen to it." Natalie said, looking fondly at the muggle television that she had managed to get.

Sirius snorted. "Alright, little muggle expert, let's get to it." He said and pulled out his wand, spinning it in his fingers like a drumstick.

It took a week worth of spell work to make the television work, since it required rather complicated protective spells to block out the magic that would counteract the muggle technology, come up with an alternative source of energy seeing that Grimmauld Place didn't have electricity and also figure out how to get a signal into the TV. The last problem was finally figured out when Natalie came across a satellite transmitter and Sirius climbed up at the roof to attach the thing to get a signal. However, all the work was totally worth it when it was finally done and they moved the most comfortable and least moth-eaten sofa (which was not easy to find in Grimmauld Place) in front of the television. Eventually, even Sirius had to admit that having a television in the house had its perks, saying they could at least watch for news from the muggle world, although Natalie knew, that he couldn't get enough of old movies.

It was one Friday evening when Natalie sneaked through the front door of the Grimmauld Place and sighed. She was not in a good mood. Actually, she felt like crawling into the bed and sleep through the week after the day she'd had. But deciding to face everyone, she shed her jacket and headed into the basement kitchen, her shoulders slumped dejectedly. As soon as she opened the door, she found a strange view: Sirius was pacing in a very agitated manner through the kitchen, looking angry and concerned, while Remus was sitting at the table, nervously tapping his foot and Tonks, sitting next to him, was biting her fingernails. There was a palpable tension in the room as Sirius gesticulated wildly, obviously trying to talk his friends into something.

"-something we can do! Five more minutes and then I'll just-" he stopped his rant as soon as she opened the door. However, just after a second, he recovered from his shock. "Where the hell have you been?" he shouted and Natalie froze, not quite knowing what was going on.

"Why are you yelling at me?" she said in confusion but Sirius probably didn't hear anything.

"Tonks said you left the Ministry more than an hour earlier than you normally would without even a word! Have you got any idea how worried we were?" he said, not as loudly as before but Natalie still could see he was quite agitated. Suddenly, she felt like a small child after breaking curfew.

"If you just stopped shouting and let me-"

"We thought you were attacked, or that you were on a mission and didn't come back-" Sirius continued in his rant until Remus stopped him.

"Sirius!" he interrupted his friend's outburst. "Let Natalie speak." He said calmly and Natalie shot him a grateful look.

"I- sorry, I was-" She couldn't even bring herself to say the words, and to her utter embarrassment, her eyes were watering. At once, Sirius was by her side, his anger immediately dissipating at seeing her distress.

"Natalie? What's wrong? What happened? Are you hurt?" he asked hastily but Natalie only managed to shake her head and wrap her arms around him, burying her head in his chest. For a while, he was holding her like that, just running his hand through her hair, not quite knowing what else to do since he had no idea what made her so upset. When Natalie calmed down a bit, he led her to a chair and then knelt by her side. "Love, you have to tell me what's wrong, otherwise I can't help you." He pleaded with her, but she hid her face into her hands, suddenly feeling ashamed for making such a scene. After all, the matter wasn't such a big deal to cry about it like that. Truthfully, she felt stupid.

"Swanny, if something happened then we-" Remus said but she interrupted him with a shake of her head.

"It's not like that." She said tearfully. "Nothing really happened."

"Come on, Blossom, if something or someone made you this upset then I want to know what it was about." Sirius said and Natalie hid her face into her hands again, feeling embarrassed.

"It's not such a big deal. You'll think I'm stupid. A stupid, irrational idiot." She said from behind her hands and the other two Marauders and Tonks exchanged confused looks.

"We won't think anything like that." Tonks said finally and Natalie sighed, putting her hands down and wiping her face.

"You will once I tell you what this is about. This afternoon, Kingsley called me into his office. I thought it was about some mission or maybe an Order business, but he said- there were some errors in all of my reports, wrong details about the places and such...and there were also some complains about my work during missions."

"How's that possible?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

Natalie frowned as well. "I wouldn't know myself if Kingsley didn't tell me about the squinting..."

"Squinting?" Remus wondered

"Oh, yes, you do that from time to time." Sirius remarked and Natalie sighed.

"Yeah. Apparently, I'm...short-sighted. And I was given an order to do something about it at once, since it could endanger some of the missions. So that's where I went. First to the St. Mungo's, where they told me there's no magical cure for short-sightedness, so I went to a muggle doctor." She explained.

Sirius, Remus and Tonks exchanged confused looks. "Uhm, was it that bad?" Remus asked hesitantly.

"It's...the appointment wasn't that bad, per se, but it was embarrassing. You see, I wanted to get contacts so I didn't have to wear glasses-"

"Contacts with whom?" Tonks scrunched her nose in confusion and her hair turned pale green. Despite her mood, Natalie chuckled. Of course, her friends weren't very adept in the muggle world.

"Not this contacts. I mean contact lenses; it's a muggle solution for those who don't want to wear glasses."

"What's the catch?" Sirius asked immediately, knowing his girlfriend well enough to know it wasn't that easy.

"Well, you have to put the lenses right into your eyes and I just couldn't really touch my eye. It's silly, I know. It doesn't hurt or anything but I just can't." She said with a shudder and then notice all three of her friends staring at her.

"Muggles put things into their eyes?" Tonks asked incredulously.

"More like onto the eye than into, actually. The lens is round, clear and very thin so you don't even know it's there most of the time...or so they say." She added dejectedly and sighed. "I'm such a loser, I'm an Auror and I'm not able to touch my bloody eyeball for a moment."

"If it is any consolation, I would hex anyone who would even suggest putting anything into my eyes." Tonks said resolutely. "Merlin, what for would someone touch their own eyeball?" she shook her head.

"But I wanted to. I didn't want to be stuck with glasses. But now I am." She said and fished the offending object from her pocket and put it on. "I look like a dork. Again." Natalie had worn glasses when she was still at school, but although she'd use them only during classes, she had often been harassed about them. Therefore, she had put away her glasses in her third year, figuring her eye-sight wasn't that bad, and hadn't needed them ever since. Until now...

"You don't look like a dork." Sirius assured her quickly, feeling it was his duty as Natalie's boyfriend. "You look smart." he said but Natalie frowned.

"Smart, huh? That's pretty much the same."

"But it's a nice pair of glasses." Remus chimed in, trying to be helpful but he earned a withering look from Natalie.

"How the hell am I supposed to fight with this contraption on my nose? This will be my weak point." she said but Sirius shrugged.

"James was fighting just fine." he commented.

Natalie snorted. "In one of the fights a spell broke both of his lenses and you had to block all of the curses for him because he couldn't see a thing." she pointed out and Sirius and Remus exchanged helpless glances.

"And what about Harry? Harry wears glasses and he fought against Voldemort several times." Tonks said helpfully and both men shot her grateful looks.

"Yeah...That's truth." Natalie trailed off, thinking of her godson.

"I think the glasses are a nice accessory. This colour looks nice on you." Tonks added victoriously.

Natalie sighed. "Great. I can just let my hair get frizzy again to complete my look."

"Come on, Natalie, you're not the small insecure girl anymore. There's no one here to harass you about your glasses and even if there were, you would have kicked their asses. So stop fretting over it." Sirius finally said decidedly. "Besides, if you really can't see, than it's better to wear glasses than nothing, is it not?"

"I suppose. Sorry to make such a big deal out of the whole matter. I guess I'm a perfectionists." she said and Sirius suppressed a snort. A 'perfectionists' was an understatement of the year.

"I wouldn't have you any other way." Sirius gave her a wink.

After a while, when Natalie was calm again and eating a dinner that Sirius had surprisingly managed to cook without burning anything, she felt a soft nudge on her side. Upon looking, she saw it was Tonks, and she arched her eyebrows. It seemed as her younger friend was adamant that the men didn't notice them.

"Uhm, I was kind of wondering if I could talk to you. Privately." she added in a hushed voice and Natalie nodded, trying to hide her surprise.

"Sure. Let's go upstairs, shall we?" she said and after sending her empty plate into the sink with one wave of her wand, she got up and followed Tonks out of the door into the drawing room. However, as soon as they left, the two men stopped in their relaxed conversation and stared at the closed door for a moment.

* * *

"Well, that was...bizarre." Sirius said after a while.

Knowing his friend was referring to the incident from this evening, Remus shrugged.

"Kind of."

"Kind of? Moony, she was completely irrational! What the hell is wrong with her?"

"Nothing is wrong with her, Padfoot. She's just afraid."

"Afraid?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows knit with confusion.

"Yes. This situation with Voldemort coming back and things slowly heading towards another war – it's getting to all of us. I think she needs to vent at least some of her insecurity. Besides, you didn't see her after...after what happened to James and Lily and to you. For several years, she was completely unstable. One moment, she was our old Natalie and then, with the mere mention of James or Lily, she snapped. We used to get into horrible fights."

"Yeah, she mentioned something about it."

"Then you should know that this incident was nothing. She used to be even worse."

"Worse than this?" Sirius said incredulously.

"Much worse." Was Remus' grim answer. "Once, she floo called me in the middle of the night, asking me to come over. I rushed into her apartment, worried out of my mind, and there she was in the middle of rearranging her living room and asking me my opinion on the new layout of her furniture. After our fight, I haven't heard from her for several years. From what I know, she travelled around Europe and the States but when she came back, she was different. Calmer, balanced. I suppose she needed to get out of England, where she had been constantly reminded of what happened. But Padfoot, it's still in her. She may act all calm on the outside but I think that she's still insecure. And now, with the new threat of losing someone important, it is coming out again."

"So, you're basically telling me that she's crazy."

"She's not crazy. I admit, it looked that way sometimes, but she's no more crazy than you or me."

"This is not saying much considering how everyone still doubts my mental health." Sirius sighed.

* * *

In the meanwhile, there was another conversation upstairs.

"So, I was wondering..." Tonks said hesitantly, nervously rubbing her hands together. "You know Remus, right?" she asked and Natalie chuckled.

"Last time I checked, he was my best friend."

"Right. So, I was wondering...do you think..."

"Tonks," Natalie interrupted her, her voice dripping with amusement. "Just spill it already."

"Yeah...well, do you know what he thinks of me? I mean, do you think I have any chance with him? Because, I know you noticed this, but I kind of...like him. And now I feel really pathetic because despite of all my moves and hints, he is completely obvious." she said and Natalie sat down on armrest of the nearest armchair.

"Well, to be honest, he has never mentioned anything, so I can't say anything for sure. But he surely seems to be treating you different than others."

"Does he? Because I've never noticed." Tonks said sadly.

"He does. Remember last week when he walked you home after the Order meeting?"

"That doesn't mean anything, he just wanted to make sure I got home safely...which is a sensible thought considering my clumsiness." she added as an afterthought.

"Well, he could have walked home Hestia, or Emmeline or any other woman from the Order, but he chose you." Natalie pointed out and Tonks bit her lip, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"He did, didn't he? But that's all. We barely spoke during that evening and tonight was the first night I've seen him since then."

"Tonks, this is Remus we're talking about. You know he's a werewolf, right?"

"Yeah, of course I don't. And I don't mind." she added quickly.

"But he does. This was always an issue with him. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, that's why he stands aside all the time."

"But what can I do?"

"The only option I see is talking to him openly, otherwise he won't get it out of his thick skull. Oh and, don't worry about not talking much – he is rather quiet on the first dates." she gave Tonks a wink and the younger witch nodded before looking at Natalie curiously.

"How do you know?"

"Because we went on a date in our sixth year. We even kissed, but we broke it off even before getting back to Hogwarts."

"What? Why? Is he such a bad kisser?" Tonks said alarmed. Natalie couldn't help but chuckle.

"No. Just listen."

FLASHBACK

It was just a few days after Sirius' prank on Snape, and to say that there was tension between the Marauders was an understatement. Especially Sirius and Natalie seemed almost hostile towards each other, which was something none of the others could get over. Sirius and Natalie had always been very close, but now they could barely hold themselves from giving each glares.

"You what?" James exclaimed.

"We just want to go alone this time." Remus repeated and James' and Peter' eyes bulged.

"Why would you do that?" Peter asked then. "We always go together."

"Yes, well, we just wanted to talk about something. We figured we would meet you later at Three Broomsticks.'" Remus explained quickly but both the boys gave him a suspicious look.

"Just leave them alone, the new couple of Hogwarts needs time alone." Sirius said sullenly for the first time since the start of the conversation, as he was lounging on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room. Hearing that, James and Peter looked at Sirius and then at Remus and Natalie, who immediately blushed.

"You two are…going out?" James asked incredulously, not able to comprehend how he had missed such information.

"Well, uhm…we just wanted to…" Natalie stammered but when she suddenly met Sirius' look she trailed off.

"We're not going out. At least not yet. We just wanted to go out on a date." Remus explained for Natalie, whose eyes stayed on Sirius so she saw him scoff at Remus' words. '_Prat_ ' she thought inwardly and turned her look back to Remus. If Sirius had decided on being offended and not talking to her, she wouldn't make him. But deep down she was hurt by his behavior even more than a few days prior.

Although they were both trying to avoid each other, Sirius and Natalie couldn't manage that completely. Again, it was those blasted potions. Sirius and James were working together and Natalie was with Remus and Peter. However, it would not be Sirius if he hadn't tried to cause havoc, not minding his long-time detention. And of course, it was in James nature to join his best friend in these havocs. So it happened that after having charmed a dead bat, which was supposed to be used into a potion, to fly around and nip anyone who approached it, the duo was separated again.

"Now, who would I put you with?" Slughorn wondered aloud as he rubbed his sore hand, which had received a rather nasty nip from the dead animal. "Oh, yes, maybe your more sensible friends will be able to control you. Mr. Potter, you'll be working with Messrs. Lupin and Pettigrew and young Mr. Black can work with Miss Crane." Slughorn said, obviously pleased with himself for the good plan. Natalie, however, didn't share his opinion about the plan; maybe for the first time in her life she wasn't glad to be paired up with Sirius. He glumly picked up his things and threw it onto Natalie's desk, causing a rather loud thump. Natalie gave him a silent look and moved a part of her things away to make more space for him.

"You're not gonna talk to me ever again?" Sirius asked suddenly, his voice still moody, and she gave him a surprise look.

"I am talking to you. There's just not really much to talk about now. Unless I kept reminding you to stir the potion." she said and he rolled his eyes. "Besides, it's not me who's acting all gloomy; it's you giving me the cold shoulder since the day, although it really should be the other way round." she pointed out and Sirius snorted.

"Right" he said sarcastically and Natalie shot him a look.

"What is it supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Nothing" he said nonchalantly and tossed a pinch of the moth-wings powder into their potion, which immediately turned brightly blue, just as it was supposed to. "How is it going with Lupin?" he asked nonchalantly and she arched her eyebrow.

"Since when are you calling him by his surname?"

"Since you're calling me by mine" Sirius huffed.

"Gee, just don't go all offended on me, Sirius, it's a rather girly thing." Natalie said sarcastically but Sirius ignored it.

"You still didn't answer my question." he pointed out. "How is it going with Moony?" he asked again and Natalie couldn't miss the slightest hint of sarcasm.

"You know we're going on a date this Saturday." she said.

"Right" he said again. "Glad to see you didn't waste your time at all." he said sarcastically and Natalie shot him a puzzled look.

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Exactly what I'm saying. You really couldn't have acted quicker to show me you don't care at all." he said bitterly.

"What?"

"Yeah, congratulations, it worked."

"Oh, geez!" Natalie mumbled. "So it's going to be just like before the Christmas ball in our sixth year, isn't it? With you acting all jealous again."

"I was NOT jealous!" he shot back with annoyance.

"Well, you obviously are now. You are such a little kid sometimes." At that, Sirius huffed and shot her an annoyed look. "For your information, Remus and I going on a date doesn't have anything to do with our fight. I can't believe you think I actually ran to the hospital wing to invite Remus on a date first thing in the morning just to have a revenge on you. Do you honestly think I'm such a bitch?" she asked.

"I don't think you're a bitch at all." he said quickly and for the first time he looked into her eyes.

"But you did actually think that it was my revenge on you for doing what you did, didn't you?" she asked and he looked away quickly.

"Yeah." he mumbled. He looked back only when he felt her touch on his arm.

"Not that it's any of your business, but it was Remus who asked me and it wasn't the intention to hurt you that made me accept. There always have been something between me and Remus, you know that."

"I know there always has been something between you and me." he countered and looked down, seemingly interested in the pig's heart he was cutting.

"Yeah, I don't deny that. But right now, it's rather complicated between us, don't you think? As I said, it's not the same as it used to be between us and it will take time to mend it. You have to accept that. And if you really do care about me as you said you did, then you will try to set it right. This, however, isn't the best way." she added and Sirius looked up again.

"That night I asked what should I do to set it right. I already talked to Moony, I apologized. So what's next?"

"You actually want me to tell you what to do?" Natalie asked incredulously, not knowing if the gesture was annoying or adorable.

"Well…yeah." he said hesitantly and she bit back a smile despite herself.

"Well… perhaps the best thing should be stop acting like a little girl." Sirius was about to protest but then he stopped himself when he realized she was right. "Really, acting like a jealous prat won't make me trust you again anytime soon." She added and Sirius grinned.

"I know. Sorry." he mumbled then. It wasn't often that Sirius Black apologized but he seemed to do that too damn often lately.

"Apology accepted. So…you've got the heartstring finally? Because our draught is starting to singe." She said and when Sirius looked into their cauldron, he saw she was right.

The next few days were a little more bearable for the Marauders. Sirius and Natalie were finally talking to each other again, although there was a strange politeness between them and their usual banters were gone. Besides, although Sirius controlled his sarcastic remarks and scowls, he still couldn't get the image of Moony and Natalie into his head. He couldn't bear seeing them joking around and laughing at their own personal jokes just as he and Natalie would have a few days ago. It just seemed that the strange connection between him and Natalie moved to Moony and Natalie and the thought itself was enough to make him miserable. He even welcomed his detention, which he had every day for next two months, so he wasn't seen in the Gryffindor tower all that much and when he was, he was working on his homework since he didn't have guts to ask Natalie to do that for him.

Finally, it was Saturday and the day of Hogsmead visit. But most of the Marauders weren't coming today. Sirius was in detention and his Hogsmead visits were banned until the rest of the term anyways; James had Head Boy duties, but he wasn't complaining since it meant he would spend the day with Lily Evans; and Peter would have gone but he didn't feel like coming into the village by himself. Only Remus and Natalie were coming. Together. When the day came, Sirius was even gloomier. He didn't said a word during breakfast and even almost snapped at James, who was rambling about the day he was about to spend with Lily. Right after breakfast, Sirius said bye to his friends and headed into McGonagall's office, where he would be serving his detention today.

As agreed, Remus was waiting for her in their common room.

"Hey! Ready to go?" he asked when she came downstairs and she tried to catch a wave of uncertainty in his voice. But she found none.

"Sure. Let's go." She said and they left.

On their way to the Hogsmead, neither of them talked much, although the quiet between them wasn't awkward.

"So, what will we be doing" Natalie asked, curious at what did he have in mind for the day. "Wait, we're not going to Madame Pudifoot's, are we?" she asked when they went suspiciously close to the teashop. At that, Remus chuckled.

"Merlin, no. Unless you want to, of course."

"No!" Natalie exclaimed and they both laughed. She just didn't get how all of the girls gushed over the tea shop, the sweet atmosphere inside was enough to make her gag.

"I thought so. I was actually thinking we could get something from Honedukes, and perhaps a Butterbeer from Three Broomsticks and then…walk around…find some more private place. For example the pond." he said, referring to a nearby pond, which the Marauders found in their fourth year and of which not many Hogwarts students knew.

"It sounds perfect" Natalie smiled.

"But if you want to do something-"

"Remus. It sounds _perfect._" Natalie repeated and finally, Remus smiled too. Together, they headed to Honeydukes, which was (as always) packed with Hogwarts students. It took them a while to fight through the horde of kids and actually choose what they wanted but some time later, they both left Honedukes with arms full of chocolate and candy. Although it was officially their date, they didn't forget their friends who stayed in the castle and bought something for all of them. After that, they bought a few bottles of Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, which didn't take them as long as getting chocolate. Then, as agreed, they strolled around Hogsmeade, enjoying the fresh spring air and first warm sunrays in that year. During their walk, they talked and joked with each other and Natalie had to wonder, why they hadn't done it much sooner. As they walked, Remus' hand brushed several times over Natalie's and every time, Natalie's heart skipped a beat. Finally, after the third time he had done that, he reached and grabbed her hand, although he gave space to pull away if she wanted to. Instead, Natalie squeezed his hand and gave him one of her brightest smiles, which always made him smile as well.

Finally, they arrived to the pond. They had found it during their roams around the Hogsmead and it became their favorite place to hang out. Sure, the pond was rather small and it was full of mud, water lilies and ducks so none of them felt like swimming in it but it had a nice calming effect on them. By the pond, there was a small meadow with overgrown grass and willow trees. Here Remus and Natalie stopped. Since it was March and it was still too cold to lounge in the fresh grass, Remus stopped and shrugged off his coat.

"What are you- oh." Natalie said as she saw that he spread the coat on the ground and motioned for her to sit on it. "Thanks" she said and sat down. "Aren't you going to be cold?" she asked him and he shook his head.

"I'm fine. What about you? Are you cold?" he asked with concern.

"No, I'm great. This is beautiful." she noted as she took in the calm atmosphere of their surroundings. The willow trees were humming with the soft breeze and the ducks were lazily bathing in the pond with their little ones.

"So are you." Remus said in a whisper. Right now, he was cursing his shyness. He had never been as smooth with girls like Sirius or never as bold and daring as James had.

Hearing his words, Natalie blushed slightly. She had heard him many times praising her new hairstyle or clothes but never before had it brought blush into her cheeks. She suddenly felt like a little girl with a crush.

"Thank you." she said as quietly as he had. Suddenly, an awkward quiet settled between them and Natalie felt she needed to break it so she cleared her throat. "Uhm, so, what did we buy anyways?" she asked and curiously looked at the big mass of different sweets they had piled in front of them. Remus, glad for a topic, responded with a smile.

"Let's take a look."

After a while, they were both laughing as they were sampling new kinds of sweets.

"I mean, cinnamon chocolate, how disgusting is that?" Natalie asked in laughter.

"It's actually better than the new kind of Ice Mice." Remus responded. "We should stick to our usual favorite kinds."

"Well, what's the fun in that?" she said after she stopped laughing.

Suddenly, their eyes met again and Remus couldn't help but feel captivated by her look. Here she was, in front of him, her hair sparkling in the sun. All of a sudden, it was as if he was led by an invisible force as he leaned and carefully planted his lips onto hers. For a while when she didn't respond and he was afraid she would slap him but then he felt her responding to his kiss. They kissed for some time before pulling away.

For a while, they were looking at each other, both with furrowed eyebrows. But then, they suddenly burst out laughing simultaneously.

"You- you felt it- too?" Natalie asked between her squeals of laughter.

"Y-yeah. It was as if I was snogging my sister." Remus laughed and Natalie nodded.

"Exactly. I mean brother." She added quickly and laughed again.

"Yes. When I said I feel something for you, it never actually occurred to me I might love you like a sister."

"We are such kids. So, I think we have just established there can never be anything else between us, haven't we?"

"Only if you are into incestual relationships" he said.

"Well, technically it wouldn't be incest." she pointed out.

"It would feel like one." he responded and she chuckled, nodding, and took another one of the sweets.

"Just for the record, you're not a bad kisser." She said and a slight tinge crept into his cheeks. "No, really. One day, you're going to make some woman really happy."

"The same applies to you, you know? Some bloke will be going crazy about you. And what's more, I think we both know what bloke will that be" he said and gave her an intent look. Catching the hint, Natalie bit her lower lip.

"I don't know, Moony. It's too complicated between Sirius and me right now."

"Maybe it just seems complicated to you but really is not." he suggested and Natalie arched her eyebrow.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Moony shrugged "Just that…as unbelievable as it is with the prat, he really does seem to fancy you. So much he would be able to actually…kill someone. That's it. He's in love. That's not as complicated as you make it sound." He said.

Natalie popped a lolly into her mouth and rolled onto her stomach as she thought about what Remus said. "I don't know…doesn't it rather point out to an obsession?" she asked and Remus laughed.

"It might. But as far as I know, he doesn't have your knickers under his pillow, nor your pictures or your lock of hair. I think you're safe around him." He joked and Natalie gave him an astounded look.

"Moony! You, the greatest gentleman of the whole school, are actually talking about my knickers on our first date?" she teased.

"I thought we had just established this is not a date." he pointed out.

In the afternoon, the duo headed back into Hogwarts. This time, they didn't hold hands but every now and then, Remus would swing his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer, although there was nothing romantic about this gesture.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Wau." Tonks laughed when Natalie finished the tale. "That was kind of cute."

"We were just kids. Sirius was pretty much experienced in this area but Remus and I were kind of awkward as you may have noticed." Natalie laughed.

"Sirius was kind of protective of you already. And Remus really seems rather shy, doesn't he?"

"Not seems. He _is_ shy. Just talk to him, Tonks. Because if you wait, it might take you years to even begin anything."

**Hello! Another chapter up! It was a little longer than I wanted it to but I didn't want to leave anything out. Hope you like it;)**


	25. You Can't Always Get What You Want

**Hello, long time no see, right? Sorry about that, here's the next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.**

"Mooonyy!" a booming voice sounded from behind the door. Remus Lupin groaned as he sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I know you're awake." the voice continued and Remus sighed. Deciding he was not going to get any more sleep, he dropped his feet on the ground and shivered from the cold. He wondered what was up with the heating charms in this house but his musings were soon interrupted by the annoying voice of his friend. "Come on, Moony, I need to talk to you." Sirius said and Remus couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"We already talked about it yesterday, Sirius. And I said no."

"Come on!" The animagus whined. "You're my only chance." he said through the door. Finally, Remus shuffled out of the room, fully dressed in warm clothes since the house did nothing to keep the cold of the December weather outside.

"I told you it's a bad idea Sirius, and I mean it. You can't just go to London, not even in your animagus form. Remember what happened the last time you did?"

"So what? What of it if Malfoy saw me? They can't find me here, can they?"

"But you don't have to parade right under their noses."

"Why not? Oh, never mind that, but please, Remus, you have to do this for me."

"Padfoot," Remus said quietly as he stopped in the hallway, careful not to wake Sirius' mother and not to be overheard by Natalie. "I understand how important this is for you, I really do, but…perhaps you should think about this once again before you get yourself arrested? Because I'm sure that Natalie wouldn't appreciate that."

"I already did, Remus. For once, I have finally thought about something and I'm absolutely sure I want to do this. And it's got to be during Christmas."

"What if someone recognizes you? You can't just stroll down the Diagon Alley and look for a-"

"We can go to muggle London. I'm sure they have plenty of shops as well." Sirius interrupted him in a bored manner.

"I suppose so. But-"

"No buts, Moony. I have to do this. And you have to help me. I can't exactly give her a gift card and tell her to pick one by herself, now can I? Besides," Sirius added slyly. "You still owe me a favor from our summer break in sixth year when I helped you to pick up that girl. What was her name? Oh, Erin, I think, wasn't it?" he gave his friend a smug smirk.

Seeing that Sirius won, Remus sighed. He didn't like Sirius' idea to go into Muggle London to buy Natalie a Christmas gift, but he knew his friend was right – a gift card just wouldn't do. "Alright, Padfoot." he said and Sirius whooped, almost waking up the portrait. "But you have just two hours, no more."

"That's more than enough, Moony. You're the best, mate." he said as Remus was already retreating to the basement kitchen to have some much needed coffee.

"Yea, yea. And by the way, Padfoot, you need new blackmail material. You've already used the 'Erin excuse' three times." he said over his shoulder. Hearing that, Sirius chuckled and bounded up the stairs, his mood looking up.

* * *

"This one?" Remus asked and pointed into the shop window for what seemed as a hundred time. And once again, the huge black dog at his feet only whined and shook his head. Remus sighed. He had given Sirius two hours and now they had been outside at least for three, going from shop to shop. Many people had already looked at the werewolf weirdly for talking to a dog, his feet hurt and Padfoot still had not found anything he actually liked.

"Alright, Padfoot. One last shop, then we're heading back to the Grimmauld." he said resolutely. Once again, the dog whined and gave Remus a pitiful look. "Don't look at me like this, Pads. You had more than three hours to find something you liked, we really ought to head back." he said and gave an awkward smile to a passing by woman, who was giving him a funny look.

When they finally found another shop, it only took one look for Padfoot to find what he was looking for. Immediately, he was wagging his tail and barking madly, again drawing attention of the passers-by. "Alright, Pads, I get it. Now, which one is it you like? This one?" Remus asked and pointed at one object in the lower row. Padfoot growled shortly, indicating it was not the one that caught his attention. This went on for a while before they finally established which one Sirius wanted to buy.

"Alright, then. I'm going inside. Are you sure you want this?" he asked hesitantly. As an answer, he got one bark from the black dog and a wag of tail. Giving Sirius a nod, Remus strode purposefully inside, clutching a roll of bank notes that Sirius had given to him at home right for this purpose.

…

"Sirius?" they heard as soon as they apparated to the hall of the Grimmauld place and Sirius turned from his dog form. "Sirius!" Natalie was calling from somewhere above.

"Oh shit." The animagus swore under his breath and turned to his friend anxiously. "Go to the kitchen, Moony, quick! If she sees us here together she will suspect we were outside." he whispered urgently as he ushered Remus to the basement kitchen.

"I spend three hours of shopping in London because of you and this is what I get?" Remus complained but instead of an answer, Sirius slammed the kitchen door shut after him. Himself, he bounded upstairs just to find Natalie standing there, looking at him suspiciously.

"What's going on?" she asked. "I was looking for you everywhere, where have you been?"

"Where would I be? With Buckbeak. He's closed all the time in that room, he needs entertaining." he lied quickly.

"Really? I've been looking for you in there." she said with confusion, her eyebrows creased.

"Yeah, I just went for a snack. I didn't know you were home already." he said, trying to distract her.

"I left work early, there was nothing much to do. And I missed you." she finally gave him a smile.

"Did you, now?" He smirked, pulling her closer.

"Of course I did." she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I know just the perfect remedy for that. What would you say to a nice relaxing bath?"

"That sounds like the best suggestion I've heard today." she grinned at him and kissed him on the lips.

"Go and draw the bath, then. I'll get some wine from the pantry." he said, distractedly, since he was more concentrating on running his lips across her jaw and down her neck.

"Ok." she sighed and after a moment, she reluctantly disentangled herself from his arms, and with one last look at him she went upstairs.

Sirius headed back into the kitchen, a silly look on his face. "I'm sorry about that, Moony." he said sincerely as he saw his friend sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a much deserved butterbeer. "But I couldn't have her get suspicious. You know her. She would find out in a matter of hours in some way."

"That's true." Remus chuckled, knowing his friend.

"And I want to thank you. This means much to me." Sirius said

"Anytime, Pads. I know it was important."

"Besides, it felt great to finally stretch my legs again." Sirius said, heading into the pantry to get a bottle of wine.

"I still think you were dragging me from shop to shop just to take a longer walk." Remus accused him teasingly

"Not true, my friend. I just have a knack for picking out jewellery and in most of the shops there was nothing suitable."

"Right." The werewolf muttered, taking a sip of his butterbeer.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, the lady's waiting for me." he gave him a wink and headed upstairs.

* * *

It was late at night when Natalie was stirred from her comfortable sleep. She clenched her eyes tightly shut before she opened them, squinting, as she raised her head from Sirius' chest. And then there it was again: the noise that had woken her up. It was coming from a room above them and sounded strangely as a human voice.

"Sirius?" she whispered and shook her lover's shoulder. "Sirius!" she repeated the action when he was still sleeping like a log, until finally she rose him from his slumber.

"Wha' is it?" he mumbled tiredly.

"Can you hear it?" she asked him.

"Hear what?" Sirius asked without even raising his head or opening his eyes, obviously intent on going back to sleep.

"This!" she said urgently when she heard the voice again. Sirius seemed to hear the same thing since he immediately propped himself up on his elbow and furrowed his eyebrows. "Could it be Kreacher?" she asked.

"No. I know what it is. Stay here." he said, quickly threw on his pants and left the room. Natalie heard him running up the stairs and then quick steps in the room above her, followed by more voices. However, it didn't even take half a minute before she heard his steps on the stairs once again, this time running even quicker than before. At once, Sirius flew into the room and grabbed his shirt from the floor, where one of them had discarded it a few hours before.

"Get dressed. Quickly!" he said urgently as he put the shirt on.

"What is it? What was the voice?" Natalie asked as she scrambled out of the bed and quickly began looking for her clothes as well.

"Phineas Nigellus with a message from Dumbledore. Arthur Weasley was injured during his guard duty. Harry and the Weasleys are coming here." he said quickly.

"Oh God!" Natalie gasped. "Poor Arthur. Is he going to be alright?"

"No idea. I just know it's bad."

"When are they coming?" she asked as she struggled with her shoes.

"Right now. Come on." he grabbed her hand and led her downstairs. Indeed, they could already hear the sounds of several people landing in the kitchen.

As soon as they burst in, they could hear Kreacher's spiteful mumbling.

"OUT!" Sirius yelled at the hated old house elf and together with Natalie, they rushed to help the children get up from the floor.

"What happened?" Natalie asked when she pulled Ron up from the kitchen floor.

When Harry told them about his vision about Arthur getting attacked by a huge snake, there was a long moment of silence. For a while, Natalie was staring at Harry, who was anxiously boring his eyes into the floor, before she exchanged a worried glance with Sirius. They didn't know what this meant, but one thing was for sure: Harry having visions, about Voldemort no less, was not a good sign.

"Is Mum here?" Fred inquired after their mother.

"She probably doesn't even know what's happened yet." Sirius replied

"Dumbledore had to get you all out before Umbridge found out. He's probably contacting her as we speak." Natalie said quietly.

"We have to get to St. Mungo's. Could you lend us some cloaks? We're still in our pajamas." Ginny said.

"You're joking, right?" Natalie frowned, just as Sirius did.

"You can't go tearing off to 's." he added.

"Course we can if we want to! He's our dad!" Fred protested loudly.

"And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?" Sirius asked exasperatedly.

"What does it matter?" George exclaimed.

"It does matter greatly. We can't let out the information of Harry having visions. This fact can't reach the Ministry nor the Death Eaters." Natalie said, much calmly than any of the men.

"Somebody else could have told us… we could have heard it somewhere other than Harry." Ginny objected but Sirius snorted.

"Like who? Listen, your dad's been hurt while on duty for the Order and the circumstances are fishy enough without his children knowing about it seconds after it happened, you could seriously damage the Order's-"

"We don't care about the dumb Order! It's our dad dying we're talking about!" the twins yelled angrily and by now, Sirius was fuming as well. Natalie shook her head tiredly. This really wasn't the time to shout at each other. However, her lover was known as a patient person.

"Your father knew what he was getting into and he won't thank you for messing things up for the Order! This is how it is ‐ this is why you're not in the Order ‐ you don't understand ‐ there are things worth dying for!" he yelled.

"Easy for you to say, stuck here! I don't see you risking your neck!" Fred shouted and finally, something inside Natalie snapped. Sirius had asked for this, she knew, but she wasn't about to let anyone question his contribution to the Order, the less so a hotheaded but naïve teenager.

In a flash, she crossed the room and before anyone could react, she grabbed Fred by the scruff of his neck and dragged him out of the kitchen. "You are coming with me if you don't want to get hexed into next week." she hissed at him on their way and believing her, Fred stopped struggling. The remaining people in the kitchen just gaped at the kitchen door, which had been slammed loudly, no one knowing what had just happened.

"She wouldn't really hurt him, would she?" Ginny asked shakily. Sirius would like to confirm that thought, he really would. However, when he remembered what Moony had said about Natalie's behavior and how irrationally had she been behaving sometimes, he wasn't very sure himself.

In the meantime, Natalie had dragged George into the drawing room, where she finally let go of him. Immediately, he rubbed his neck and gave her a scalding look.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled.

"Nothing is wrong with me. There is, however, something wrong with some things you've said." she said coldly. "We need to talk about it."

"I don't have time for this. My dad is dying!"

"I know. But there is nothing you can do about that. Listen to me, Fred. You need to see reason."

"About what?" he said moodily.

"First of all: You are going to apologize to Sirius. Not necessarily right now, but eventually. Sirius, Remus, the Potters, I and many others have sacrificed many things to the first Order and we're doing it again. In the first war, there were even several fights a week. We were injured many times and lot of our friends died. Sirius lost his friends and his freedom for thirteen years. He knows what he's talking about and you're not going to question it." she said, coldly. Fred was staring at her, not even blinking. "Your parents weren't fighting in the first war. No one is blaming them, they were responsible for several very young children. But now they chosen to join and help and trust me, they both know very well what they're getting themselves into. Everyone is doing their best and you can't just go and trash their job because of yourself." she finished and Fred seemed to be fuming again.

"It's not because of _myself_. It's because of our dad!" he spat. For a while, Natalie was silent, but then she sighed and her look softened.

"I know. But you won't do him any good if you know burst into 's."

"But-"

"Look, Fred," Natalie interrupted him with a sigh. "you and your brother always want to be taken as adults, is that right?" she asked and the redhead teen nodded. "Then I will talk to you as to an adult. Let's say, you and your siblings will go to St. Mungo's right now. The Healers are now working to save your dad's life, so they won't let you in, you will be waiting in the waiting room, not knowing anything much quicker than here. And since the circumstances about your dad's injury are so obscure, there will be an investigation. Someone will definitely mention, that the children, who are all supposed to be at school right now, showed up at the hospital even before Arthur's wife."

"So what?" Fred folded his arms across his chest.

"Well, you all will be interrogated as well. Your dad was injured during the job for the Order but I think I can even tell you he was doing the exact job that Sturgis Podmore had been doing when he was arrested. You surely heard of him at the beginning of the term. You know what that means, right? If his presence at that place has no plausible explanation, he will go to Azkaban." she said, choosing to be straightforward, and Fred paled. "By now, Dumbledore is working on his alibi, I'm sure. Everything will be alright but you can't make the situation worse. There are other important things you can do right now."

"Like what?" Fred mumbled, his eyes boring into the floor, and Natalie knew he was suppressing tears and immediately felt a wave of sorrow for the boy.

"For example be strong for your siblings. Especially Ron and Ginny need you and George right now. You're the oldest here, and responsible for them. They're scared as well." she said softly and he nodded wordlessly. Natalie felt a wave of sympathy towards him and although she knew it had to be done, she felt bad for having talked to him so harshly before. Carefully, she put her hand on his shoulder and when he didn't flinch away, she wrapped it around his shoulders and pulled him closer, trying to soothe him. "I know it's hard. Believe me, I know. But you have to hold on, and be strong now. If not for anyone else now, then for your mother, who needs to know now that at least you four are safe." she said and Fred nodded, before turning away and subtly wiping away the few tears. "Can we go?" she asked him and he nodded once again.

When they entered the kitchen again, there was a strong tension, and just as they stepped in, everyone looked at them. The Weasleys were obviously relieved that their sibling was unharmed, while Sirius was eyeing Natalie curiously. However, she kept her face passive even as she sat down next to him.

"What's going on?" Ginny broke the silence and looked at Fred. He gave no hint of what he and Natalie had been talking about either.

"We will wait here." he just said and sat down next to Ginny, wrapping his arm around her.

**I hope you liked the chapter. Please review;)**


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